"Don't beat women up then, simple"- Alexander Zverev faces backlash from fans as he calls out journalist for pressing him over domestic abuse trial
Tennis fans have reacted angrily to German tennis star Alexander Zverev's response to a question on his upcoming domestic abuse trial based on a complaint from her ex-girlfriend Brenda Patea.
A Berlin criminal court is hearing the allegations of domestic violence leveled against him by Patea and he has to appear in May this year to contest the charges. Zverev did not want the topic to be the first question of his post-match press conference after a marathon five-set win over qualifier Lukas Klein.
"Wow. That's a question. I just played for four hours, 40 minutes. That's not the first question I really want to hear, to be honest. I've got no idea. It is in May," Zverev snapped at his post-match presser.
Tennis fans and commentators seized on his curt reply stating that the German, who won the men's singles gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, should stop abusing women in the first place if he does not want to answer such questions.
"Well don't beat women up then, simple," said Peter Pan, a writer who follows the WTA (Women's Tennis Association) closely wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
It was the only English-language question in Zverev's press conference as the English portion of his interaction with the media was cut short after that
Some fans pointed out that women also do not want to be assaulted and if he does not like to hear such questions he should treat his opposite gender in a proper way.
"Ya and your girlfriends didn’t want to be assaulted but hey we don’t always get what we want do we," a tennis fan said on X.
"Not a question you want to hear?? then don’t try to strangle a woman," another fan wrote.
Here are some more reactions from fans on the episode.
Alexander Zverev has a 6-1 win-loss record so far in 2024
Alexander Zverev has had an eventful opening to his 2024 season. He has won six matches and lost only one outing so far this year.
Zverev beat Hubert Hurkacz of Poland in three sets at the United Cup final. He saved two match points in his match against the Pole coming from a set down to clinch the tie.
In the process, he helped Germany to edge past Poland to win the United Cup. He beat Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in two straight sets in the quarterfinals of the United Cup. His only loss so far in the year came at the semi-finals of the United Cup where he lost to Australia's Alex di Minaur in three sets.
Zverev won two matches at the group stage in the United Cup, both in three sets, first against Laurenzo Sonego of Italy and then against Adrian Mannarino of France. He has however had a tough start to the Australian Open losing three sets in total in two matches against unfancied opponents.
The German beat his fellow country-man Dominik Goepfer in four sets in the first round. He battled past Slovakia's Klein to keep his Australian Open dreams alive.