Zverev penalty after referee attack is certain - and causes incomprehension: "Ridiculous"

Created: 03/08/2022, 12:39 p.m

By: Marius Epp

Alexander Zverev is punished by ATP for his attack on the referee in Acapulco.

He gets off pretty lightly.

Munich – Alexander Zverev* shocked the tennis world with his derailment at the end of February.

The German number one hit the referee's chair several times with his bat*, referee Alessandro Germani had to duck his feet to avoid being hit.

The Hamburger also made verbal dropouts.

Tough penalties for Zverev were demanded by fans, experts and players.

As a first consequence, he had to pay a $40,000 fine and was banned from the tournament in Acapulco.

Now the ATP has imposed further sanctions: Zverev is now playing on probation.

He was sentenced to a $25,000 fine and an eight-week ban - both of which only apply if the 24-year-old behaves unsportsmanlike again in the next 12 months.

Alexander Zverev wasn't in control of himself in Acapulco.

© MARCOS DOMINGUEZ/AFP

Alexander Zverev is punished for freaking out: "There is no excuse for that"

So if Zverev pulls himself together for a year, he will be spared further consequences.

"It's hard to put into words how much I regret my behavior during and after the doubles.

I privately apologized to the chair umpire because my outburst was wrong and unacceptable."

"There's no excuse for that."

• Alexander "Sascha" Zverev

• Born: April 20, 1997 (age 24), Hamburg

• Height: 1.98 meters

• World ranking position: 3

• Single title: 19

• Girlfriend: Sophia Thomalla

Some fans think the punishment is too lax.

"What the hell do you have to do to really get punished?" asks a user on Twitter.

"That's ridiculous.

He should have been immediately banned for several weeks/months,” agrees another fan.

"For what he did, it's a joke ban," is one of many comments that go in the same direction.

Alexander Zverev shows remorse and wants to "think about actions"

"I will use the coming days to think about my actions and how I can ensure that something like this doesn't happen again," Zverev promised.

At the Davis Cup tournament in Rio de Janeiro, he was badly insulted by the fans because of his freak out.

Next up is the Masters tournament in Indian Wells.