Martina Navratilova has been a fierce fighter for women's rights for much of her career and she wants the ATP to take the Alexander Zverev matter seriously.
Physical harm should always be taken seriously but it's foolish to pretend that it always is. After Zverev's former partner Olya Sharipova accused him of physical abuse, the ATP took a very long time to initiate any kind of investigation into the matter.
After heavy pressure from outside factors, the ATP ultimately launched an independent investigation into the matter and shockingly found nothing worthy of any kind of suspension for Zverev which left a lot of fans disappointed. Some pointed out the absurdly long investigation as a clear signal that the organisation was not taking this seriously.
Well, they have another problem brewing as the German was accused of bodily harm by a different woman, another former partner. It created shockwaves in the tennis community with many pointing to an apparent pattern now.
One accusation technically could be dismissed as a one-off however a second one indicates a very troubling pattern. Response from the ATP Tour has been non-existent so far and Navratilova wants to see a proper investigation into this matter, not the one that the ATP did the first time.
And this needs to be properly addressed and actually investigated rather than the BS investigation by @atptour to nowhere.
This matter is likely going to be investigated by law enforcement in Germany because it could become a criminal case. The first one never did because Sharypova accused Zverev in an interview and not in court. That could certainly be a huge problem for Zverev.
More broadly the ATP does need a policy against instances like this as he hasn't been the only one who has been dealing with accusations like these. Players like Nikoloz Basilashvili and Thiago Seyboth Wild also faced allegations like these.
0 Comments