'Outrageous' - Marion Bartoli slams lack of punishment for Alexander Zverev after umpire chair attack
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Updated 09/04/2022 at 09:30 GMT
The widespread condemnation of Alexander Zverev's shocking attack on an umpire's chair at ATP Acapulco did not lead to the punishment many felt was justified due to the vicious nature of the incident. Former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli believes the way Zverev managed to escape much more serious punishment for the attack is "outrageous" and cannot understand why.
Watch the shocking moment Zverev attacks umpire’s chair with racquet
Marion Bartoli has described as "outrageous" the lack of punishment handed down to Alexander Zverev after his shocking attack on an umpire's chair.
The world No. 3 was handed the maximum fine by the ATP following his vicious reaction at the Mexican Open as he struck Alessandro Germani’s chair several times with his racquet after his doubles defeat alongside Marcelo Melo against Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara.
Zverev was thrown out of the tournament and fined $40,000 (£30,000), plus a full forfeit of his prize money and ATP ranking points. He had yelled while narrowly avoiding hitting the umpire: "You f****** destroyed the whole f****** match. The whole f****** match".
The 24-year-old apologised for his outburst, but Bartoli cannot believe the leniency afforded to Zverev in terms of punishment and says she does not think he will learn the lessons he should have done following the incident as a result.
"To see Alexander Zverev just going out and smashing his racket so close to the umpire and almost just wanting to attack him, staying in that fine line where he didn’t touch him and can defend himself, to me that was outrageous,” Bartoli told Tennis Majors.
"That to me deserved at least a three-tournament suspension, not play Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo, it deserved that at least, otherwise where do you draw the line?
"The fine was a big amount for normal people, but for tennis players such as Alexander Zverev who earns so much on and off the court that was not that much – I don’t think he will learn the lessons he should have learned.”
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Eurosport expert Mats Wilander had said he believes the punishment was nowhere near strong enough and Zverev should not have been permitted to be back in action so soon after such a shocking incident.
"If a player breaks his racquet on the umpire's chair and he is literally a few centimetres away from hitting the umpire's leg, he should not be allowed to get on a tennis court until he has gone through some kind of rehab, some kind of time," Wilander told Eurosport.
"We need to punish him accordingly, and allowing him to come out and play professional tennis the week after or two weeks after, that is too soon.
"To me, money does not do it, and I think you either give someone with that behaviour a three-month suspension or a six-month suspension. You do not allow him to play the most important tournaments on his calendar. Now, the most important tournaments are most probably the Grand Slams, the ATP 1000, the Davis Cup.
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‘We need to punish him accordingly’ – Wilander says Zverev return ‘too soon’
"I mean, I do not know where you draw the line, but certainly going out and competing in any shape or form straight away, it does not seem like that is very fair to other players.
"Maybe it is time to have some kind of a professional body of tennis that makes all these decisions, and it is the combination of the ATP, the ITF, the WTA, the Olympic committee. We get together, and these kinds of behaviours, no, you're not allowed to play on any circuit until you have gone through some kind of a rehabilitation process.
"So no, it is not great for tennis. For him personally, it is most probably a good move that he can suddenly start playing, not just for himself, but to play for his country and his team-mates. But no, I think that is ... it does not send a great message for professional tennis.
"I applaud him for being an emotional wreck at the end of the loss in a doubles match - that just shows that he cares, but you have to show that you care in different ways.
"I think I go back to what happened against Denis Shapovalov at the Australian Open. After 45 minutes, he was destroying a tennis racquet on the court.
"I do not like destroying tennis racquets, even though it has become more and more acceptable in the professional world of tennis.
"I absolutely hate that behaviour because there are more tennis players in the world that cannot afford a second racquet. So do not show the kids that that is how we treat the material that we use."
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