Germany’s Alexander Zverev says a recently announced investigation into allegations that he abused his former partner has been a long time coming and he has given his full support to it.
Earlier this the ATP confirmed that they are investigating the world No.4 over an incident which took place during the 2019 Shanghai Masters involving him and his ex-girlfriend Olga Sharypova. Zverev has been accused by his former partner of abusing her both mentally and physically in two interviews which were published by The Racquet Magazine in 2020 and Slate.com in 2021. Both interviews were conducted by the same journalist. One of the most serious allegations by Sharypova was that she attempted suicide as a result of the abuse during their stay at the 2019 Laver Cup.
Speaking publicly about the investigation for the first time during his pre-tournament press conference at Indian Wells, Zverev has once again reiterated that he has done nothing wrong and hopes the investigation will prove his innocence.
“Bloody [time] finally to be honest,” said Zverev. “I have been asking them myself for months now. I have been asking them to do that since London last year because it is very hard for me to clear my name.
“Only with something like this I can. It has been around for a year and there is not much more I can do to clear my name and I hope this will finally do it.”
The 24-year-old has recently gone to court over the publication of Sharypova’s most recent interview by Slate. Details of the legal case which was made against the author have not been made public but the German said he ‘won.’ Sharypova has previously said she doesn’t want to take Zverev to court over her allegations and instead hopes to raise awareness of domestic abuse.
“I have been in court in Germany which I won the case against the author,” said Zverev. “I have proven I am innocent in a lot of different ways. I think with this investigation that is now finally happening I hope this can be done and dusted from a third individual party and we can move on with everything else.”
Despite the accusations made against the tennis star, he has still managed to achieve great success on the court this season where he has won four ATP titles, including two Masters 1000 tournaments and a gold in the Olympic Games. In the Grand Slams he reached the semi-finals of both the French Open and US Open.
Zverev says the allegations made against him have been a distraction for the entire sport. Something he hopes will change once the investigation concludes.
“Andy Murray said it very well last week in San Diego, when stars of the game they win tennis matches, they win big matches you want to talk about that,” he commented. “I have had one of the most incredible seasons a young guy has had in the last probably 10 years winning the Olympics, winning two Masters Series, winning four tournaments and that is kind of forgotten a little bit.
“Once this situation is over, once it is done, we can go back to how it was.”
Zverev is the third seed in Indian Wells this year. Granted a bye in the first round, he will start his campaign against either Jenson Brooksby or Cem İlkel.
