Freak out after double defeat
Zverev excluded from the tournament after a beating attack
02/23/2022, 09:12 am
Alexander Zverev has a momentous freak at the tennis tournament in Acapulco. The Olympic champion repeatedly hits the referee’s chair after losing in doubles. The ATP reacted immediately and also excluded him from the individual competition.
The tennis tournament in Acapulco has been an integral part of Alexander Zverev’s schedule for years. Last year he won the singles final there against Stefanos Tsitsipas, and in 2019 he won the doubles competition together with his brother Mischa. However, what the reigning Olympic champion and Germany’s athlete of the year is doing in Mexico this time not only brings him a lot of unpleasant attention, but also a severe penalty – Zverev has been officially excluded from the tournament. Because of “unsportsmanlike conduct”, writes the ATP.
The reason for this: After losing in doubles with his Brazilian partner Marcelo Melo, the 24-year-old hit the referee’s chair with his bat and insulted him as a “fucking idiot”. Which probably doesn’t need a translation to be understood.
He repeatedly hits the chair with his sports equipment, the referee’s feet are only a few centimeters away. This even pulls her up, as can be seen on videos of the freak out. Zverev swings three times, then sits down briefly on his bench, then gets up again and hits the side of the chair again, while the referee is about to get off it.
Audience reacts clearly
The trigger for Zverev’s anger is apparently a decision in the match tiebreak of the first round game against Lloyd Glasspool from Great Britain and the Finn Harri Heliövaara, against whom the German-Brazilian doubles defeated 2: 6, 6: 4 and 6:10. When the score was 6:8, Marcelo Melo supposedly let a ball go out of bounds, but the referee saw it differently. At this point, Zverev clearly insults the referee as a “fucking idiot”. Nevertheless, it remains at 6: 9 from Zverev / Melo’s point of view, three match points for Glasspool / Heliövaara. The next serve is an ace and makes the difference.
After the obligatory handshake at the net, Zverev then goes straight to the referee’s chair and swings his racket out for the first time. The audience, which had previously commented on the controversial ball with “Off” calls, reacted with whistles and audible incomprehension to the freak out of the current number three in the world rankings.
In singles, Peter Gojowczyk moves into the quarter-finals without a fight. The 32-year-old from Munich defeated the American Brandon Nakashima 6: 4, 6: 4. The world number 95. Gojowczyk was actually eliminated in qualifying for the $1.8 million tournament, but slipped into the main draw as a lucky loser. Zverev’s victory after a unique night shift in the first round is now worthless. The 3: 6, 7: 6, 12:10 against the American Jenson Brooksby ended just before 5 a.m. local time.