Of course one could say: He has been punished enough. Alexander Zverev was disqualified for the remainder of the tournament in Acapulco at the end of February after his verbal attack on the referee and the angry blows with the bat on the chair, on which the Italian Alessandro Germani flinched. His prize money was withheld and he had to pay $40,000. Now another $25,000 is due, plus the warning: If he misbehaves within a year, he will be banned for eight weeks. sounds tough. But that’s not it.
It remains to be seen whether Zverev, who is known to be a higher earner, will be hurt by the withdrawal of money. With just a first-round win at the French Open, he would have leveled the loss. He also grabbed a racket last weekend. For him it goes on without restrictions. In Rio, the third in the world rankings had led the German Davis Cup team to success and criticized the spectators there, quite a punchline, for their rude behavior. It almost seemed as if nothing had happened.
But that would do Zverev an injustice. He realized he screwed up. The fact that he spontaneously flew to Brazil, although he rejects the new Davis Cup format, can be understood as a penance and an attempt to correct his image. He is not responsible for the incorrectly weighted sanction anyway.
Fognini called a referee a slut, Medvedev asked a referee if he was stupid
This is where the ATP, the Association of Professional Players, comes into focus, and of course the question arises as to whether an organization can fairly judge those whose interests it represents. The answer is obvious: Such a sports company will always do damage limitation on its own behalf. If you block Zverev, your own product suffers. So the consideration is: What punishment is reasonable for one of ours, but symbolizes enough harshness to the outside world? It was the same now. The business may then go on. But a stale feeling remains.
Other sports have long shown that this is possible: evaluating misconduct in a comprehensible manner. Top-class sport still has a role model function. Basketball, for example, is exemplary in protecting the referees. One gesture is enough to fly. In tennis? Fabio Fognini once called out to a referee that she was a bitch. Daniil Medvedev asked the referee at the Australian Open if he was stupid. No one was banned, not even for a match. In football, a tackle is enough.
Yes, tennis, which lives from individuals, needs bad boys. Unforgettable the cute tirades of John McEnroe (“You cannot be serious”). Nick Kyrgios once threw a chair onto the pitch like a hammer thrower. Gave good posture grades (and a disqualification, but of course no suspension). But Zverev accepted hurting someone. In such cases, a line should be drawn. The ATP failed to send this signal clearly.