"It was definitely the worst moment of my life, of my career" - Alexander Zverev on his Mexican Open outburst
Alexander Zverev has said the ATP has "every right" to ban him if he repeats the behavior that led to his disqualification from last month's Mexican Open. The German described the incident, for which he was handed a suspended ban, as the worst moment of his life.
The World No. 3 defaulted from the ATP 500 event in Acapulco last month for his conduct during his first-round doubles loss alongside Marcelo Melo. He repeatedly hit umpire Alessandro Germani's chair with his racket and verbally abused the official after disagreeing with a line call in the match tie-break.
The 24-year-old had to forfeit his prize money ($31,000) and ranking points for both the singles and doubles events. He was also given a $40,000 fine.
Alexander Zverev will be allowed to keep competing on the ATP Tour. The world number 3 is now on probation for a year and will be fined and suspended for two months if a similar behavior happens. https://t.co/Q3RZNg4heg
The ATP announced on Tuesday that Zverev will not be banned from any tournaments but will serve a one-year probation period. If he receives any code violations for "unsportsmanlike conduct" or "verbal or physical abuse" during this time, he will be immediately suspended from all ATP events for eight weeks. The German was also fined an additional $25,000.
In his press conference ahead of the Indian Wells Masters, Zverev offered his thoughts on the suspended ban he received.
"If I do that again, they have every right to ban me. It’s as simple as that," he said. "If I do that again it means I haven’t learned, right? I think everyone in life deserves a second chance, everybody makes mistakes. But if you repeatedly make mistakes, it means you haven’t learned. So if that happens again, you should ban me. But I’ll do everything I can to make sure it doesn’t happen, not only in the next year but my whole career."
He also admitted that he remains embarrassed by the incident and vowed to never repeat the behavior in the future.
"It still is embarrassing for me now," added the German. "Walking around the locker room, it’s not a nice feeling. But we all do mistakes. I’m also a human being, and I can guarantee you I will never act this way again in my life. It was definitely the worst moment of my life, of my career, in general."
Alexander Zverev is the No. 3 seed at the 2022 Indian Wells Masters
Alexander Zverev will compete as the No. 3 seed at the Indian Wells Masters. World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev is the top seed, while No. 2 seed Novak Djokovic withdrew after the draw was announced, with Grigor Dimitrov taking his spot as the 33rd seed.
The German achieved his best result at the event in the Californian desert last year, where he lost in the quarterfinals to Taylor Fritz. He has won five Masters 1000 titles: Rome and Montreal in 2017; Madrid in 2018; Madrid and Cincinnati in 2021.
Match points saved. Double faults. Big hitting.
Relive the extraordinary conclusion to Fritz vs Zverev in Indian Wells...
#BNPPO21 https://t.co/YwVDEvqshm
The 24-year-old will face either Mikhail Kukushkin or Tommy Paul in the second round.