Alexander Zverev went through something horrific in Acapulco. The German player was withdrawn from the tournament after he completely lost his cool against the chair umpire following his loss in doubles. Sascha hit violently and dangerously his racket against the umpire’s chair, struggling to keep his frustration because of a dubious call.
Eventually, Sascha forfeited his prize money ($40,000) besides defaulting. Even if the ATP stated that there would be an investigation, it seems more and more plausible that Zverev will not be suspended any soon.
Mats Wilander vs. Zverev
According to 7-time slam champion Mats Wilander, the German player should face harsh consequences. Wilander told Eurosport:
“If a player breaks his racquet on the umpire’s chair and he is literally a few centimetres away from hitting the umpire’s leg, he should not be allowed to get on a tennis court until he has gone through some kind of rehab, some kind of time.
We need to punish him accordingly, and allowing him to come out and play professional tennis the week after or two weeks after, that is too soon.”
Mats believes that Sascha should be suspended. He added:
“To me, money does not do it, and I think you either give someone with that behavior a three-month suspension or a six-month suspension.
You do not allow him to play the most important tournaments on his calendar. Now, the most important tournaments are most probably the Grand Slams, the ATP 1000, the Davis Cup.”
Alexander Zverev in 2022
Currently ranked no.3 (career-high), Alexander played his last match on the 5th of March when he defeated world no.114 Thiago Moura Monteiro 6-1 7-5 in the Rubber 4 of the Davis Cup (draw).
Currently, during this season Zverev has a compiled 11-3 win-loss record. Alexander Zverev’s best performance of the current season was getting to the final in Montpellier.
Alexander Zverev |
| Embed from Getty Images |
