Davis Cup teammate Yannick Hanfmann said that the outcome of Alexander Zverev’s future domestic violence trial should be “respected” by the public.
Global No. 5 This May, Zverev will go on trial for alleged domestic assault against one of his ex-partners, an accusation he has always refuted since it first surfaced.
Zverev will not be required to be in court for the hearing, which is scheduled to take place at the French Open and will take place following his dispute of a penalty order notice that was served against him.
Zverev’s attorneys issued the following statement following the initial disclosure of the punishment order last year: “Mr. Zverev refutes the charges leveled against him.
“A forensic medical assessment by the renowned Berlin forensic physician, Prof. Dr. Tsokos, Charite Berlin, has already contradicted the charges made by the complainant, on which the penalty decision alone is based.”
A few athletes have discussed the matter in public, but Zverev’s standing on the ATP Player Council has drawn criticism.
Hanfmann disclosed that he had a “friendly” relationship with Zverev in an interview with Clay Magazine. The two had practiced together in the past and occasionally competed together on the same Davis Cup squad.
The world No. 53 also emphasized the need to wait for the trial to conclude before passing any judgment, although he acknowledged that in the event that Zverev were proven guilty, action could need to be taken.
In May, he will go on trial. And I believe that regardless of the outcome of the trial, we must accept that decision once it is made. To wait and find out if he is guilty or not is standard procedure, Hanfmann explained.
“I have no knowledge of any of the topics. Although I am aware of the accusations made against him, I am unsure of his guilt. So let’s try to get them to figure it out. If he turns out to be innocent, we can put the incident behind us and go on.
“We’ll probably have to remove him from the Council if he is found guilty. Additionally, the ATP will need to take action.
I felt that the amount of discussion about it in Australia was a little bit unfair, considering his trial is not yet underway but is scheduled for the future. It is, in my opinion, crucial to draw that distinction. Let’s wait and watch what transpires in May and June.
In October 2020, Zverev was first accused of domestic abuse by another ex-partner.
An internal ATP inquiry into that complaint found “insufficient evidence to substantiate” the claims; hence, no action was taken against the former US Open finalist. He has also consistently disputed that claim, and there has been no legal action against him surrounding it.
Though Hanfmann trusted the ATP to have finished a thorough inquiry, he thinks they should investigate how they handle similar instances going forward.
“It’s such a tough topic,” he continued. We’ve had some problems with some players; perhaps the ATP can create a separate section to handle this kind of activity.
However, I have faith in ATP and know that they will thoroughly investigate all of these issues. And that they find it out, so these problems in tennis are resolved. Thus, it casts a negative light on ourselves.
Naturally, I dislike it, but let’s hope that Sascha’s situation is unrelated. Naturally, I find it unpleasant to learn about these things. I hope all of our players are decent people.
