By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, March 9, 2022
A contrite Alexander Zverev offered apology and guarantee in the aftermath of his ugly tirade in Acapulco.
The Olympic gold-medal champion called his violent outburst that saw him hammer his racquet off the umpire's chair "the worst moment of my life" and vowed "I will never act this way again in my life" during his Indian Wells press conference today.
Serena: I'd Probably be in Jail for Zverev Tirade
"The other day it was probably the biggest mistake of my tennis career, the way I acted and what I did," Zverev told the media in Indian Wells. "I have apologized for it. I know that even apologizing is not enough the way I acted. It was embarrassing for me; it still is embarrassing for me now walking around the locker room and all of that it’s not a nice feeling, but we all do mistakes.
"I’m also a human being. I can guarantee you I will never act this way again in my life in my career. So it was definitely the worst moment of my life, of my career in general...
"I hope people can kind of forgive me and people can understand that’s a lot of mental pressure on us and that there are a lot of things that are happening to us that maybe people don’t see on the court as well and that we’re all human."
The third-ranked Zverev was hit with 8-week suspension and an additional $25,000 in fines for his “aggravated behavior” during an incident in which he struck an umpire’s chair and intimidated an official at Acapulco. However, Zverev's eight-week suspension will be waived if he stays out of trouble and does not incur a further Code Violation before his probation period ends on February 22, 2023.
The fact Zverev was not suspended prompted criticism and even outrage among some. Former world No. 1 Serena Williams told CNN's Christiane Amanpour "I'd probably be in jail" if she committed a Zverev-type of outburst.
Asked if he felt his punishment from the ATP was fair, Zverev suggested it is in accordance with punishment the ATP has meted out in similar incidents in the past.
“I think the ATP what they did is looked at history and maybe historical events where there were similarities," Zverev said. "There were events where there were physical harm and the same procedure was happening like me.
"Yes what I did was incredibly bad and what I did there is no excuse, but I never would have physically harmed anyone. I was breaking a racquet off the umpire chair, which is horrible and the things I said were horrible. But I didn’t physically want to harm anyone. At the end of the day, the ATP looked at historical what happened and they did the same thing to me."
Zverev said he's been meditating and realizes "I need to be better, I need to learn from this and make sure it never happens again."
"This is a bad moment on court, I had played until 5 a.m. the day before," Zverev said. "The same day I went back to play doubles. I am someone who gives it his all on the court, doesn’t matter if it’s singles or doubles. I am somebody that I want to compete and do the best I can in everything I do. That maybe got the better of me because I was physically tired. I was emotionally tired, but I was still competing. I was fighting until the last moment.
"That still doesn’t excuse the way I acted. At the end of the day, I apologize but I can’t take back what I did."
Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve