Zverev ‘begs forgiveness’ after hitting referee’s chair

(Acapulco) German Alexander Zverev, expelled by the ATP from the Acapulco tennis tournament on Tuesday for repeatedly hitting the referee’s chair with his racket after a doubles defeat, “asked for forgiveness” for his proceedings, Wednesday.

In a message posted on his Instagram account, the world’s third-largest singles player claims to have “presented [ses] privately apologized to the chair umpire” and found his own outburst “unacceptable”.

“It shouldn’t have happened, I have no excuse. I apologize to my fans, to the tournament and to this sport that I love. As you know, I give everything on the court. Tuesday, I gave too much, ”also wrote the Olympic champion.

The 24-year-old also announced that he was going to use the next few days “to reflect” and to ensure that “it doesn’t happen again”.

“Due to his unsportsmanlike behavior at the end of his doubles match on Tuesday night, Zverev has been expelled from the Acapulco tournament,” the ATP, which governs the men’s professional circuit, tweeted earlier.

The winner of the last Masters was due to play his second-round singles match against his compatriot Peter Gojowczyk on Wednesday. Opening the tournament, he defeated American Jenson Brooksby late Monday night at 4:54 a.m., the latest match in professional tennis history.

In doubles, associated with the Brazilian Marcelo Melo, the German came out of his hinges after a defeat in the super tiebreaker against the Briton Lloyd Glasspool and the Finn Harri Heliövaara 6-2, 4-6, 10-6.

On the video images, we see him hitting the chair of the referee Alessandro Germani three times, sitting down then getting up to insult him and giving a last stroke of the racket just under the foot of the official, when he gets down from his chair.

Beyond his exclusion from the Acapulco tournament, the German could be sanctioned more heavily according to the ATP disciplinary code.

McEnroe or Djokovic before him

“If the First Vice-President, Rules and Competitions, determines that this was an infraction particularly detrimental to the proper conduct of the tournament or detrimental to the integrity of the sport, he may consider additional sanctions (fines or suspensions)”, specifies the ATP.

After his defeat in the round of 16 of the Dubai tournament against Jannik Sinner, the Briton Andy Murray said he understood the fact that “many players, athletes in many sports can be very frustrated”, while specifying that one does not could hit his “tennis racket right next to the umpire repeatedly”. “It was dangerous and reckless,” he said.

Exclusions of players for bad behavior are very rare in professional tennis.

A few big names have suffered this fate during a match, however: American John McEnroe was disqualified at the 1990 Australian Open for insulting the referee and Australian Nick Kyrgios in Rome in 2019 for throwing a chair at the short.

Serbian Novak Djokovic was kicked out of the 2020 U.S. Open for accidentally kicking a linesman in a bad mood, hitting her in the throat, after losing a game on duty. Canadian Denis Shapovalov experienced a similar mishap when his ball injured French chair umpire Arnaud Gabas in the 2017 Davis Cup. As for the Argentinian David Nalbandian, he was deprived of the end of the final of the Queen’s 2012 for having involuntarily injured a linesman.

Zverev is also the subject of an investigation opened by the ATP into allegations of domestic violence made against him by his ex-partner.

In June 2020, he was also criticized for partying in a crowded bar, when he promised to isolate himself for 14 days after participating in the Adria Tour. During this exhibition tournament with the public and without distancing organized by Novak Djokovic, several players, including the world number 1, had been infected with COVID-19.