German tennis player Alexander Zverev, current champion of the ATP 500 in Acapulco, was expelled this Wednesday from the tournament for “unsportsmanlike conduct” after having attacked the referee after the doubles match that he animated with the Brazilian Marcelo Melo.
In this context, Zverev, third in the ATP world ranking, lost in the opening round of the doubles draw along with Melo against the couple made up of the Englishman Lloyd Glasspool and the Finnish Harri Heliovaara 6-2, 4-6 and 10-6 in the tie break that generated his anger first with the linesman and then with the referee.
The 24-year-old German insulted the line judge and when he was leaving the court he hit the base of the referee’s chair at least three times with his racket, who first moved his leg to avoid being hit and then left the place, they recorded. spanish newspapers Brand and AS.
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“Due to unsportsmanlike conduct at the conclusion of his doubles match, Alexander Zverev was withdrawn from the tournament in Acapulco,” the organization of the Mexican tournament reported. on your official social network account Twitter.
So the German will not be able to defend his singles title and also is exposed to a harsh penalty since the ATP will open a disciplinary file.
Zverev had debuted in the singles box yesterday with a victory over the American Jenson Brooksby (47) by 3-6, 7-6 (12-10) and 6-2 that set a record in tennis because it was the match that most later it ended in history, at 4:54 in the morning in Mexico (7:54 in Argentina).
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The contest also had the debuts of the top favorite for the title, the Russian Daniil Medvedev (2), who beat the Frenchman Benoit Paire (49) by 6-3 and 6-4, and the great attraction of the tournament, the Spanish Rafael Nadal (5), who reappeared on the circuit after his brilliant consecration at the Australian Open.
Nadal, who reached his 21st Grand Slam title in Melbourne, a figure that allowed him to beat the Swiss Roger Federer and the Serbian Novak Djokovic, both with 20, beat the American Denis Kudla (100) 6-3 and 6- this morning. 2 and stretched his unbeaten record to 11 games in 2022.
The Acapulco Open, which Nadal won three times, in 2005, 2013 and 2020, will have a new champion this year after Zverev’s expulsion.
The only Argentine who lifted the trophy as an ATP 500 was Juan Martín Del Potro in the 2018 edition, while as ATP 250 it was won by Juan Ignacio Chela in 2000 and 2007, and Agustín Calleri in 2003.
