World No. 3 player and Tokyo Games gold medalist Alexander Zverev was placed on a one-year probation by the ATP Tour on Monday for violently punching the referee’s chair with multiple blows racquet after losing doubles in Acapulco.
If Zverev is further punished for a breach of the Code of Conduct with a fine for unsportsmanlike behavior or any other act of verbal or physical abuse towards an official, opponent, spectator or any other person at the venue of a the ATP, he will be suspended for a period of eight weeks and will have to pay an additional fine of $25,000.
The 24-year-old German tennis player has until Friday to appeal the decision of the vice-president responsible for the application of the rules of the ATP, Miro Bratoev.
Bratoev conducted an investigation into the incident in Mexico last month and determined that Zverev had committed acts that qualified as aggravated conduct, according to the gross misconduct section of the ATP code of conduct.
The ATP explained the sanction given to Zverev as being a suspension and a fine, but that these are withheld until his behavior warrants their being imposed on him. The probationary period will end on February 22, 2023.
Due to his ejection from the tournament in Acapulco after his gesture, Zverev has already had to pay a $40,000 fine in addition to losing more than $30,000 in purses and all the ranking points he should have collected.
