Alexander Zverev was the target of a dramatic protest after the Australian Open final, as a spectator screamed out the names of two women who have accused the world No2 of domestic violence.
Zverev lost in straight sets to Jannik Sinner and, as he approached the microphone to begin his runners-up speech, a woman yelled into the silence: ‘Australia believes Olya and Brenda! Australia believes Olya and Brenda!’
The 27-year-old German waited for the commotion to die down – the woman was removed by security – and made no reference to the protest in his speech.
In 2020 Olya Sharypova, a former girlfriend of Zverev, posted on Instagram accusing him of assaulting her multiple times, allegations she expanded upon in interviews.
Sharypova did not go to the police but the ATP instituted a 15-month, independent investigation. In 2023 it was announced that Zverev would face no punishment as there was insufficient evidence to support Sharypova’s claims.
‘From the beginning, I have maintained my innocence and denied the baseless allegations made against me,’ Zverev said in a statement at the time.
‘I welcomed and fully cooperated with the ATP’s investigation and am grateful for the organization’s time and attention in this matter.’
Last May, separate accusations of domestic abuse from Brenda Patea, the mother of Zverev’s child, went to a German court. The case was settled, with the court telling the BBC: ‘The decision is not a verdict and it is not a decision about guilt or innocence.
‘One decisive factor for the court decision was that the witness has expressed her wish to end the trial.
‘The defendant agreed to the termination of the case.’
Zverev said of the court case: ‘At the end of the day, I do believe in the German system. I do believe in the truth, as well. I have to be certain that, you know, I do know what I did, I do know what I didn’t do.
‘That’s, at the end of the day, what’s going to come out, and I have to trust in that. You know, everything else is out of my hands.
‘Not out of my hands, but I do believe that I’m not going to lose this procedure [sic]. There’s absolutely no chance I am.
‘That’s why I can play calmly, and I think my results have been showing it.
‘Winning [the title in] Rome [earlier in May] I think is a big title, as well, and obviously being here. And if it would be on my mind I wouldn’t be playing the way I am.’
When asked about Sunday’s protestor, Zverev said: ‘I believe there are no more accusations. There haven’t been for, what, nine months now.
‘Good for her. I think she was the only one in the stadium who believed anything in that moment. If that’s the case, good for her.
‘I think I’ve done everything I can, and I’m not about to open that subject again.