Watch: Alexander Zverev hurls obscenities at chair umpire during Mexican Open doubles match, gets suspended for unsportsmanlike conduct聽
Alexander Zverev has been suspended from the 2022 Mexican Open after he violently assaulted the umpire's chair after losing his doubles match on Tuesday. The World No. 3 partnered with Marcelo Melo and took on lucky losers Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara in the first round.
No pretendo discutir con aficionados nuevos al tenis, cada qui茅n tiene en su experiencia su percepci贸n del deporte, pero lo de Alexander Zverev es grotesco e inaceptable, espero que tengan huevos y haya sanci贸n. Si esto lo hace alguien m谩s, lo suspenden.
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Zverev and Melo lost the first set but bounced back to take the second, which meant the match would be decided by a 10-point tie-break. With the score at 6-8 in favor of Glasspool and Heliovaara, the German disagreed with a line call that gave his opponents match point.
The 24-year-old was of the opinion that the ball went out of bounds but the linesperson did not share the same view. The chair umpire did not overrule the call, which infuriated Zverev.
He repeatedly pointed to the spot where he felt the ball had bounced and screamed at the umpire, saying he should have made the call correctly since it was close to him. The World No. 3 went out on to yell a torrent of obscenities before eventually walking back to his return position.
"Look where the ball bounced! It's 8-6 in a tiebreaker! Look where the ball bounced, for God's sake! It's your line!" Zverev yelled. "It's f**king your line! You f**king idiot! F**k off!"
@Mar_ND4ever https://t.co/DYMzzpZLm2
Glasspool and Heliovaara won the next point with an ace to seal the match. On the way back to their respective seating areas after the customary handshake, Alexander Zverev bashed his racquet repeatedly against the umpire's chair to vent his anger.
He sat down for a moment but then returned to continue the argument. Unhappy with what was said to him, the 24-year-old proceeded to bang his racquet a couple more times against the umpire's chair, coming agonizingly close to hitting him. Understandably, the umpire exited the scene as fast as he could.
Fans and pundits were unanimous in their criticism of the German for his inappropriate behavior. Tournament organizers took matters into their own hands and suspended him from the tournament.
In a statement released on Twitter, they cited Alexander Zverev's "unsportsmanlike conduct" for his expeditious suspension from the ATP 500 event.
"Due to unsportsmanlike conduct at the conclusion of his doubles match on Tuesday night, Alexander Zverev has been suspended from the tournament in Acapulco," the statement read.
Debido a una conducta antideportiva al concluir su partido de dobles el martes por la noche, Alexander Zverev fue suspendido del torneo en Acapulco.
Alexander Zverev's second-round opponent Peter Gojowczyk moves into quarterfinals in Acapulco
After Alexander Zverev's suspension, Peter Gojowczyk became the first player to reach the quarterfinals of the 2022 Mexican Open. The German will face either eighth seed Cameron Norrie or John Isner for a place in the last four.
World number three Alexander Zverev has been thrown out of the Mexican Open, after attacking the umpire's chair at the end of a doubles match.
His opponent Peter Gojowczyk has been given a walkover into the third round.
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Zverev was in line to meet World No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semifinals, and was one of the favorites to go all the way. The World No. 3 was the defending champion coming into the tournament, having taken out Tsitsipas in the final last year.