Amid the sublime excellence of Carlos Alcaraz and the astonishing season of Novak Djokovic, a dark cloud hangs over men’s tennis.
That would be Alexander Zverev, the reigning Olympic singles champion from Germany and one of the top players of the past five years.
Zverev, 26, was seemingly on his way to stardom during the early years of his career. However, accusations of spousal abuse from former girlfriends have forced him and his sport to face difficult questions — about what happened between Zverev and those women, one of whom is the mother of his child, and about how the leaders of the sport should respond when a player has been accused of abuse or, in the case of the most recent charges against Zverev, subject to an initial judgment of guilt.
Zverev has denied all the allegations. Other than the seven months of 2022 when he was recovering from a serious ankle injury and surgery, Zverev has been allowed to continue playing, as none of the sport’s governing bodies have taken any action against him.
Here is an explainer of where things stand for Zverev, who is participating in the elite ATP Finals this week in Turin, Italy.
Pick your champion… 🏆
Tell us why! 👇#NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/6wMXCNFrqX
— ATP Tour (@atptour) November 12, 2023
