Zverev on abuse allegations: “This is not healthy for me either”

Alexander Zverev said on Tuesday that he would not be making any more comments regarding allegations of abuse against him and said all the talk was not good for his mental health

Alexander Zverev by Federico Pestellini / Panoramic

Simon Cambers

August 31, 2021

Germany’s Alexander Zverev said on Tuesday he would be making no further comment on allegations of abuse aimed at him by his former girlfriend, adding that his mental health was also an issue, saying: “this is not healthy for me either”.

The Olympic champion was last week accused of more incidents of physical and emotional abuse by Olya Sharypova, including that he punched her in the face when she came out of the shower.

In a statement last week, Zverev denied all allegations, said he was engaging lawyers and claimed that because a German court had awarded a preliminary injunction against further publication of allegations. In his pre-US Open press conference, he claimed the court had “confirmed” that everything said against him was untrue.

At the US Open on Tuesday, the Olympic champion was asked to explain his comments, especially the part where he said the court had proven the allegations were false, even though there had been no trial. Zverev said he would not be talking about it any more.

“I have said everything,” he said. “I think my statement was very, very clear, and I think the German court system is also very clear. Just because we’re not in Germany right now doesn’t mean that the court system is not great.

We are talking about mental health and all that to players, and this is not healthy for me either.
Alexander Zverev

“I have said everything before. And there is also, I mean, there is going to be also further proceedings from my side because I will not let that sit on me, and that’s it.

“I’m not going to comment on it any further, because to be honest, I have been dealing with it for a long time now, and you guys need to be fair to me as well, because we are talking about mental health and all that to players, and this is not healthy for me either.”

“I’m very happy with how things went in the past few days, few weeks. I think a lot of people try to twist what I said and try to twist my words on that statement, but I think it was very, very clear. That’s it.”

Zverev is considered one of the favourites for the title at the US Open. He beat Sam Querrey 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 in his first-round match.