Tennis fans took a jab at Rafael Nadal and Billie Jean King for celebrating Alexander Zverev’s French Open victory despite him having faced domestic abuse allegations. Zverev lifted his first Grand Slam title after defeating Flavio Cabolli on Philippe Chatrier on Sunday.
His win drew praise from tennis greats Nadal and King. However, their compliments weren’t positively acknowledged by fans, who slammed the former tennis players for extending their wishes to Zverev, who has faced two major public domestic abuse allegations in the past. The 14-time Grand Slam champion congratulated the German player, stating it was a well-deserved victory.
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“Congratulations, @AlexZverev on winning @rolandgarros ! 🏆 So well deserved after all the hard work and perseverance. You’ve been chasing your first Grand Slam for a long time, and you absolutely deserve it,” Nadal wrote.
One of the tennis fans took a swipe at the Spanish legend and expressed disapproval of his wishes.
“Shame on you for platforming an abuser, especially on your legacy turf.”
Another fan criticized Nadal for avoiding congratulating women’s singles champion Mirra Andreeva.
“Any thoughts for Mira for winning the women’s? Or you are going to be politically correct hypocrite, for the fear of what people think of you.”
Billie Jean King acknowledged Zverev winning the Roland Garros title while navigating diabetes and penned:
“Congratulations to @AlexZverev on his very first Grand Slam Singles title! He is also the first man with Type 1 Diabetes to win a major. What a victory for everyone living with this disease.”
A fan criticized the widely known women’s rights advocate for ignoring Andreeva’s feat and highlighting Zverev’s struggles.
“Where is your tweet about Mirra Andreeva???gh? inot a h there’s no hope for women.”
One of the fans aimed a dig at King for not aligning her values of feminism and women’s safety, for which she is widely recognized.
“He’s also a domestic abuser Billie, frankly, expected more from a feminist and equality warrior like you.”
What did Alexander Zverev say about the accusations?
Alexander Zverev was accused of allegedly abusing on two occasions. His former partner and the mother of his daughter, Brenda Patea, accused him of pushing her, which led to breathing issues and pain, in May 2020. In October 2020, another former partner, Olya Sharypova, also alleged him of abusing her multiple times on tours, including in New York and Geneva. She accused him of punching her in the face. However, Zverev denied both the allegations, stating he was innocent.
“They’re not going to drop the case if you’re guilty at the end of the day. Done. We move on. I never ever want to hear another question about the subject again. I believe there are no more accusations. There haven’t been for what, nine months now.” (via nytimes.com)
Alexander Zverev and Patea reached a settlement agreement in June 2024. Sharypova chose not to press police charges. The ATP Tour did not take any action against him on the second occurrence, citing “insufficient evidence.”
Edited by Janhavi Shinde