Olympic tennis champion Alexander Zverev, 24, has expressly welcomed the announced investigation by the men’s organization ATP into the allegations of his ex-girlfriend. “It’s very difficult for me to clear my name. I’ve asked for this to happen for a long time myself,” he said on Wednesday at a press conference on the sidelines of the tournament in Indian Wells.
He sees himself wrongly in a negative light. “I know that the media turn it around in such a way that it is a bad development for me – but I am actually quite happy about it because it will hopefully lead to the issue being settled then,” said the German.
Olga Sharipova, the former partner of the hamburger, had accused him of beating her in October 2019 during the Masters Series event in Shanghai. Zverev has already denied these and other allegations several times, and he now stayed with his appearance in California. “To be honest, it’s very difficult in my situation because the man is often not really believed,” said Zverev.
His point of view is: “I have proven my innocence in many ways.” Many fans in Indian Wells did not seem to be influenced by the topic in their affection and were happy about the autographs and selfies that Zverev took time for after a training session.
The ATP is now investigating the case
Nevertheless, the ATP is investigating the case, the association indicated that it condemned all forms of violence. One would of course investigate such accusations as a tournament organizer, it said in the statement of the men’s organization on Monday. “The allegations made against Alexander Zverev are to be taken seriously and we have an obligation to follow them up,” said tour boss Massimo Calvelli.
A development that Andy Murray also likes. As one of the few professionals on the tour, the Briton had previously taken a public position on the subject. “It was taking a little too long, but now there is a process and a process for such allegations.” Since the proceedings are now ongoing, he does not want to go into it any further, but rather to wait for the result of the investigation.
Zverev, on the other hand, would have liked to intervene much earlier. “I’m relatively happy that it finally happened. To be honest, the ATP has waited a year too long,” said the fourth in the world rankings. In terms of sport, he had an outstanding year behind him and that was pushed into the background because of the story, he thought. He is therefore happy, “that the ATP finally moves its ass and does a little something. So that you can leave it all behind and I can concentrate on playing tennis again,” commented Zverev.
“I’m number four in the world, I’ve won the Olympics, won two Masters tournaments and won four other titles. And most of the press conferences I go in and talk about this crap, unfortunately.” Before his statements in Indian Wells, Zverev’s manager, his brother Mischa and Sergej Bubka, who also works in the Zverev team, left SZ inquiries about the case unanswered.