This is getting embarrassing.
Alexander Zverev, the German tennis star who will stand trial in May on domestic abuse charges, continues to say that elimination from the Australian Open would save the sport from a topic no one wants to talk about.
So the world number 6 avoids defeat, escaping tight tie-breaks and five-set battles every other day. Zverev, 26, raises his arms. He answers friendly questions from a tennis personality – questions that never mention the accusations and the impending trial in Berlin.
That’s what happened today (Monday) when Zverev won the fifth set tiebreak for the second time in a week, beating British No. 1 Cameron Norrie, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 4 -6, 7-6 (3). It was a tight and nervous duel, in which Zverev’s great serve, more ferocious than ever in the final stages, won him the victory.
Zverev, who this month became a member of the ATP Player Council, which serves as the voice of players on the men’s tour, will face world No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. Minutes after his win over Norrie, Zverev and interviewer Nicholas Monroe, a retired doubles player, were leading Margaret Court Arena in singing Happy Birthday to Zverev’s father.
The allegations are rarely discussed during his televised matches, although this is the second time an ex-girlfriend has accused Zverev of physical abuse. The first led to a 15-month investigation, which concluded early last year and found “insufficient evidence to substantiate the published allegations of abuse”. On both occasions Zverev denied any wrongdoing.

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The latest accusations come from Brenda Patea, the mother of Zverev’s daughter, Mayla. In media interviews and complaints filed with German legal authorities, she claimed that Zverev pushed her against a wall and choked her during an argument in 2020. Patea said she told friends about the incident at the time, but that he did not report it to the police until October. 2021 due to a mixture of shame and concern for their daughter, born in March 2021.
In October, a criminal court in Berlin issued a sanctions order, fining Zverev almost $500,000 (£393,000) in relation to Patea’s allegations. In Germany, a prosecutor can ask for a sanction order in cases he deems simple because there is compelling evidence that they should not require a trial. The defendant has the right to respond to the order, which Zverev has.
Speaking at the Paris Masters in November, Zverev described the penalty order as “complete bull***”, adding: “Anyone with a semi-standard IQ level knows what it is.” The player did not explain the reasons for his objection. “I’m not going to comment on it to be honest because there’s still a procedure to follow Eat,” he said.
A test is scheduled for the end of May, to coincide with the French Open. ZVerev is not required to attend the trial and said last week he doesn’t know if he will. His lawyers called the legal process “scandalous” and said Zverev would act “using all possible means.” The player will be considered innocent until the final sentence.
Another ex-girlfriend, the former Russian tennis player Olya Sharypova, said this Zverev repeatedly abused her in 2019 in New York, Shanghai, Munich and Geneva. Unlike Patea, Sharypova has never involved the criminal justice system, exposing her allegations in a lengthy article in the online magazine Slate and on social media.
The ATP decided to take no further action in January 2023 following a 15-month independent investigation Extensive interviews with Zverev, Sharypova and 24 others including family, friends and other players, as well as analysis of text messages, audio files and photographs. The investigation, conducted by third party The Lake Forest Group, decided there was insufficient evidence to substantiate Sharypova’s allegations.
Zverev has always denied any wrongdoing and has said that the only people who suggest there is anything inappropriate about his participation in this tournament, the tour and the Player Council, are members of the press.
“Journalists say this, some who are actually more interested in this story to write about and more in clicks than the real truth,” Zverev said last week.
Days after making that statement, Sloane Stephens, the former U.S. Open champion who recently resigned from the WTA Player Council, said someone facing trial over domestic abuse allegations probably won’t represent players in the WTA.
“The ATP beats its own drum,” Stephens said. “They do what they do on that side.”

Sloane Stephens was a member of the WTA Players Council (Robert Prange/Getty Images)
“It’s a difficult situation,” Stephens added. “Someone very important in our sport… I think he will now go to court and deal with whatever he is dealing with (the matter could be resolved).”
Zverev continued to play during the investigations and legal disputes because the ATP does not have a policy banning it. The other major tennis governing bodies that may be involved – the four Grand Slams and the International Tennis Federation – have followed the tour’s lead and decided to let the legal process wind through the courts before arriving at any decision.
Asked on Monday why he wanted to join the Player Council and what issues he wanted to focus on, Zverev highlighted several issues related to the structure of the tour and the playing demands facing athletes.
“Playing 11 months of the year is too much,” he said. Adding events to the tour “is perhaps getting out of hand and even a little too much. There are just all those discussions. But they are very good discussions. No one is fighting in there, no one is yelling or screaming. “We are all there to achieve the same goal and have a better tour.”
He did not mention the safeguarding, nor the allegations made against him over the past three years.
At this Australian Open no one wants to talk about it.
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(Top photo: Julian Finney/Getty Images)