For the second time in his life, Alexander Zverev has been accused of assault by a former partner; this time around from the mother of his child.
Alexander Zverev never had the cleanest of image among players, both on and off the court. His image took a beating when his former girlfriend alleged multiple instances of both physical and emotional abuse. There was a very high-profile piece written about her allegations, allegations Zverev elected to fight in court.
A lot of murky things happened around that case, from the ATP's lacklustre approach to the whole situation to Zverev's silence, and ultimately the ATP cleared him of any wrongdoings after a 15-month independent investigation.
Everything seemed fine, and Zverev was back and embraced as if nothing happened. But now, according to reports in Germany, Zverev is facing assault and bodily harm allegations from another former partner. This time around, it's actually the mother of his child, as the German has a daughter with his former partner, Brenda Patea.
Not much is known about the case as his former partner refused to talk to the media though Berlin's prosecutor's office has issued a criminal order against Zverev. For now, legally, Zverev is considered innocent, as we must wait and see what happens.
The criminal order has been issued on the suspicion of bodily harm, but nobody really knows what exactly happened. The German has two weeks to appeal this, and for now, no penalty order has been issued yet. A penalty order would mean that the court found sufficient evidence of the allegation.
Zverev or any of his representatives are yet to comment though German media was able to confirm that the whole process began on July 7th, which is quite a while ago. Zverev's team is certainly aware of what's going on but it's only made its way to the media right now.