Germany’s Alexander Zverev finds himself in the semi-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters, but should he have even been allowed to compete?
Prior to this the current world number four enjoyed a bye from the round of 64 as a top 8 seed and began his campaign in the last 32 stage.
Here he beat Argentine Federico Delbonis 6-1, 7-5 before overcoming Spaniard Pablo Carreño Busta 6-2, 7-5 to make the last eight.
In his most recent match, Zverev managed to beat talented Italian Jannik Sinner 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) with only a couple of points separating the two.
The ninth seed may even see himself unfortunate not to have won given how well he played.
Next up is defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece.
On the other side of the draw, surprise package Alejandro Davidovich Fokina takes on a resurgent Grigor Dimitrov for a place in the final on Easter Sunday.
But there are two incidents that the ATP Tour officials will be concerned about that the Hamburg native is associated with.
The first is a domestic abuse case against ex-partner Olga Sharypova dating back to September 2020.
This appears to have been forgotten about, rather than charges and a ban being given, pending a full investigation.
Although the account given to journalist Ben Rothenberg describes vividly the experiences of Sharypova, therefore in most sports such behaviour would not be tolerated.
This has cast a dark shadow over the sport of tennis if a player who is in the top ten, multiple Masters 1000 winner is allowed to get away with alleged domestic abuse of women.
In a broken world, tennis authorities should not be manipulated or intimidated to give stringent long-term bans, which unfortunately in this case has not been applied.
The second area of concern is the verbal abuse and racquet smashing incident in Acapulco six weeks ago.
Many within and outside the sport were shocked when the German was given a suspended ban based on a year of good behaviour, with an 8-week penalty only being applied hypothetically in the future.
This has meant Zverev has been allowed to compete at premier events such as Indian Wells, Miami and now Monte Carlo, which humiliates the ATP entirely, considering the severity of the incident that sent a wave of shocking footage all over the world.
In fact, umpire Alessandro Germani, after being branded a “f****** idiot”, there is no way he would agree with the 24-year-old being let off the hook with a mere fine, which is peanuts for a professional athlete.
Germani was also fortunate to come away unscathed after nearly being seriously injured, with the racquet millimetres away from his leg.
Three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray described the incident as ‘dangerous and reckless”, which would indicate the current punishment, that allows the German to compete is disproportionate to the severity of the incident, and should therefore be re-examined.
On the face of it, it seems that Zverev has used his power and status to manipulate an outcome that enormously favours him, meaning justice has not been served.
So much so that legendary women’s player Justin Henin, winner of seven Grand Slams, was left furious that Zverev has still been allowed to compete without an immediate ban.
The Belgian told Eurosport Tennis Club: “We have to take action. Concrete action should be taken so that these extremes stop.
“You can’t yell at an umpire. Even if there is no intention, it is a problem to break a racquet that flies as far as a ball boy,” she said.
“You can be tired… but we can’t see the images of Alexander Zverev again.
“These are behaviours of intimidation, of rage, which we cannot see and which we must punish much more severely.
“He should not be on the court today, Alexander Zverev.”
