“Would have gone to jail”
Serena Williams shocked by Zverev penalty
3/5/2022 12:53 p.m
After the fine for his attack on the referee’s chair, Alexander Zverev is back on the pitch. Not everyone wants to understand that. Long-standing world number one Serena Williams complains of “different standards”, while Swedish icon Mats Wilander calls for a ban.
Long-standing tennis world number one Serena Williams is convinced that she would have been punished much more severely if she had freaked out like Olympic champion Alexander Zverev. “There is absolutely a double standard. I probably would have gone to jail if I had done that. Really. No joke,” said the 23-time Grand Slam tournament winner in a CNN interview. “I am who I am – on and off the pitch and I’m also very passionate, but there are definitely different standards.”
At the tournament in Acapulco, Mexico, after losing in doubles, Zverev hit his racket several times against the referee’s chair, on which the referee was still sitting. The 24-year-old was disqualified and had to pay a $40,000 fine. In addition, the Hamburger has to pay back the prize money of more than 30,000 dollars and loses the points for the world rankings. There should also be an additional investigation.
Williams also had outbursts of anger from time to time in her exceptional career. The 40-year-old even played on probation once, as she recalled in the interview with a review of an incident more than twelve years old. During her semifinals at the 2009 US Open against eventual winner Kim Clijsters, Williams verbally attacked a linesman who ruled a faulty serve on a serve. She was then only allowed to play on probation for two years and received a large fine.
In 2018, she presented herself as a bad loser in the final in Flushing Meadows against Naomi Osaka and was penalized several times for rule violations and several insults to the referee during the match. “At the end of the day, I am who I am and I love who I am,” she said.
“Shouldn’t be allowed to go on a tennis court”
Former world number one Mats Wilander had previously expressed similar criticism of Zverev’s freak out. He too would have liked a much more sensitive penalty for Zverev. “If a player breaks their racquet on the referee’s chair and is literally inches from hitting the referee’s leg, they shouldn’t be allowed on a tennis court until they’ve had some sort of rehabilitation process,” said the 57-year-old Eurosport expert from Sweden.
“You sanction someone who behaves like that with a three-month or six-month ban,” added Wilander, who has won seven major titles in his career: “In a case like that, you don’t allow him to play the most important tournaments on the calendar – the Grand Slams, the Masters events and the Davis Cup.”
In the Davis Cup, Zverev made his comeback for Germany on Friday. He lived up to his role as clear favorite with the 6: 4, 6: 2 against Brazil’s number two Thiago Seyboth Wild, but Struff was unable to use the template in the 3: 6, 6: 1, 3: 6 against Thiago Monteiro. “It was my first match on sand. It wasn’t perfect, but I won and got the first point. That’s what counts,” said Olympic champion Zverev: “The course was very slow. I think they have a lot Sand piled up. The atmosphere in the stadium was great. Even though most were against me, I really enjoyed it. It was a Davis Cup atmosphere.”
Struff was “disappointed with the result” and quarreled: “I shouldn’t have gotten the early break in the third set because I had the momentum on my side right then.” The decision will be made this Saturday (from 6 p.m./sportdeutschland.tv): Then there will be doubles with Kevin Krawietz/Tim Pütz before Zverev meets Monteiro in singles and Struff concludes the game with a duel against Seyboth Wild. For Davis Cup captain Michael Kohlmann, the double is “very important now”. But he was “convinced that we will win the game”.
Last year, the German team advanced to the semifinals without Zverev. If the team prevail in Brazil, they will be guaranteed a place in the group stage of the top 16 teams in September. The final round will take place at the end of November, the venues are not yet known.