“If I had done that, I probably would have gone to jail”
“For the moment it’s catastrophic for him”
“It was a freak like you hadn’t seen before,” says Andrej Antic, editor-in-chief of Tennis Magazin, about Alexander Zverev’s freak in Mexico. You can’t justify his behavior, but you can understand that the tennis star is under a lot of pressure.
After his attack on the referee, the criticism of Alexander Zverev does not stop. Now Serena Williams spoke up in an interview. The sanctions against the German do not go far enough for her. The 40-year-old complains about different standards.
SSerena Williams has not played tennis since June 2021. In her opening match of the Wimbledon tournament, she tore a muscle fiber in her thigh and gave up injured. Since then she has been working on her comeback.
On screen at least, the 40-year-old superstar has now returned to CNN for a lengthy interview, which also included a take on what’s happening in her sport. When asked what she thought about Alexander Zverev’s behavior, she made a remarkable assessment.
“I am who I am – on and off the court, and I’m also very passionate,” Williams admitted, “but there are definitely different standards. I probably would have gone to jail if I did that. For real. No joke.”
A week and a half ago at the tournament in Acapulco, Zverev hit the referee’s chair several times with a tennis racket after losing a double and almost hit the referee in the foot. The German was subsequently banned from the entire tournament and fined. In addition, the men’s organization ATP is still investigating against the 24-year-old.
Zverev freaks out and hits the referee’s chair
Alexander Zverev has also been disqualified for the singles competition after an unacceptable outburst of anger following his defeat in doubles at the ATP tournament in Acapulco. The Olympic champion had previously been upset about a decision by the referee.
Williams, too, was notorious for her outbursts of anger and on-pitch antics during her career. “I was even on probation before,” she recalled in an interview about an incident that was more than twelve years old.
During her semifinals at the 2009 US Open against eventual winner Kim Clijsters, Williams attacked a linesman who ruled a faulty serve on a serve, saying, “By God, I swear I’m going to shove one of those damn balls down your throat . I swear.”
Zverev wins on return
She received a two-year suspended sentence and a $175,000 fine. She drew even more attention at Madison Square Garden in 2018, when she presented herself as a bad loser in the final against Naomi Osaka, incessantly insulting the referee instead of showing respect to the young winner. Her image was badly damaged as a result.
If you didn’t know…: Serena Williams with a blonde wig
Quelle: Dad/Me Aldama
Williams, who defines herself more and more often as a businesswoman, does not regret her actions at all and indirectly gives Zverev hope: “If I hadn’t had the passion on the pitch, I wouldn’t have had it in the things I’m doing now either.”
Olympic champion Alexander Zverev meanwhile returned to the tennis stage on Friday. The professional, who was heavily criticized in public, put the German Davis Cup team in the lead in the first round game in Brazil. He clearly won 6: 4, 6: 2 in Rio de Janeiro against the Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild. After an hour and 34 minutes, Zverev converted his first match point on Center Court in Olympia Park.
Out of control attitude: Alexander Zverev is notorious for his outbursts of anger
Quelle: dpa/Eduardo Verdugo
After freaking out in Acapulco, Zverev only decided at short notice to make his comeback in the Davis Cup. Actually, he had already canceled the game because it didn’t fit into his tournament schedule due to the Masters 1000 tournament in Indian Wells taking place next week. But after the negative headlines, Zverev is also about polishing his image again.
