While he was winning matches that put him one day away from winning his first Grand Slam, the German was also going through legal proceedings in his country.
When Alexander Zverev made his Roland Garros debut on May 27, he wasn’t the only one thinking about Rafael Nadal’s game. Even though the German has avoided the subject in press conferences and interviews, there is no way that the trial against him for domestic violence, which was about to begin, is not a recurring thought for the brand new Masters 1000 champion of Rome.
The accusation comes from his ex-partner and mother of his son, Brenda Pattea, who reported that the tennis player tried to choke her after an argument in May 2020. Four years later, the process resulted in a public trial which began on May 31 and lasted until June 6. Basically, throughout his participation at Roland-Garros, which allowed him to reach his second Grand Slam final.
But the truth is that this case had been going on for a long time before landing in Paris, since the trial took place because earlier this year, Zverev and his lawyers rejected an initial sanction of $490,000 filed by a court in Berlin. .
This Thursday, after eight days of hearings, the process resulted in an amicable agreement. The local press details that the tennis player, who is playing the final of Roland Garros this Sunday, must pay a fine of 215,000 dollars, of which 160,000 will go to the state coffers and 65,000 to a charitable foundation. An agreement that you accept without being found guilty or having admitted your guilt for what you are accused of. Zverev also did not testify at any time, since he was competing in Paris.
A repeat situation for Zverev
Even if this is the first time that the US Open finalist has been tried for domestic violence, he had already experienced a similar situation in the past with another of his ex-partners.
It was also the tennis player, Olya Sharypova, who accused at the end of 2021 that Sascha had mistreated her in 2019, during the Masters 1000 in Shanghai. These complaints did not reach ordinary justice, but they provoked an internal ATP investigation which lasted 15 months and which ultimately found no results.sufficient evidence to prove a crime “.
This process concluded in January 2023 and he has always insisted that he did not commit any of the acts with which he was accused. Sharypova, for her part, never raised the issue publicly again.
Months of controversy
In January 2024, the accusations against Zverev experienced one of the most tense moments. The announcement of this new trial and the start of the Australian Open combined to create a few weeks during which the entire tennis world talked about the case. It is for this reason that, while the first Grand Slam of the year was being played, questions against the player were recurring.
“Some journalists are more interested in getting clicks with their stories about this than in the truth. “, he said during his first press conference in Melbourne, after having been consulted several times on the accusation of Brenda Pattea.
His colleagues were also asked about Zverev’s role in the ATP Players Council while he was also on trial for domestic violence. “There is no easy answer, but I think it is up to the ATP to decide. It’s definitely not good for a player facing such accusations to be promoted. “, even declared the world number one, Iga Swiatek.
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Source: Latercera
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
