Alexander Zverev was heckled from the stands during the awards ceremony after the Australian Open men’s final. A protestor in the crowd repeatedly screamed out “Australia believes Olga and Brenda.”
Many tennis fans in the stands and a number of those watching at home unfamiliar with the background to the outburst would have wondered what the commotion was about.
Alexander Zverev was heckled before he could begin his speech.Credit: AP
What is Alexander Zverev accused of?
The protestor yelling at Zverev was reminding him, and the world, that the German tennis player, an Olympic gold medallist who had just come runner-up in the Australian Open, has been accused by two former partners of having been physically and emotionally abusive to them during their relationships.
Olya “Olga” Sharypova first made claims against Zverev on Instagram and then in a series of media interviews but did not press criminal charges against him. Zverev has always denied the allegations.
And Brenda Patea accused Zverev of physically assaulting her, of pushing her against a wall and choking her during an argument. Zverev was charged in Berlin’s Tiergarten court of causing intentional bodily harm to Patea – who was his partner at the time of the incident – during an argument in the stairwell of a Berlin apartment in May 2020.
He was charged with “physically abusing and damaging the health of a woman”.
In October 2023, the German court issued a penalty order against Zverev, ordering him to pay €450,000 ($750,000) in fines. German courts use penalty orders in some criminal cases when they consider the evidence and impose an order to avoid the case going to trial. The accused has the option of refusing the order, which results in the matter going to trial.
Zverev rejected the order and pleaded his innocence. He described the charges as “bullshit”.
Who are Brenda Patea and Olya Sharypova?
Both women were partners of Zverev. Brenda Patea is a model, who was previously a contestant on reality TV show Germany’s Next Top Model, and was not only Zverev’s partner but also the mother of his daughter. They started dating shortly after he broke up with Sharypova.
Sharypova is a former Russian professional tennis player who went out with Zverev when they were in their mid-teens and then again in their early 20s.
According to tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg, who is credited with breaking the stories about Zverev, Sharypova’s first allegations were made in an Instagram post before she then did interviews with the Russian website Championat and on CNN.
Rothenberg then wrote a long article in Slate magazine in 2021 in which Sharypova said she had been repeatedly physically abused by Zverev during their relationship. She outlined abuse she said she suffered in New York, Shanghai, Monaco and Geneva.
She did not press criminal charges.
Zverev then and now has denied the allegations.
Ten months later Patea did an interview with a German newspaper outlining the abuse she suffered and laid criminal charges.
What was the outcome following the allegations?
The ATP investigated the Sharypova claims for 15 months, and in January 2023 decided to take no further action. The investigation included interviews with Zverev, Sharypova and 24 others, including family, friends and other players, as well as analysis of text messages, audio files and photographs.
Alexander Zverev and Olya Sharypova in happier times.Credit: Getty
The ATP did not release the full report of its findings.
“From the beginning, I have maintained my innocence and denied the baseless allegations made against me,” Zverev said the day the investigations findings were released. “I welcomed and fully co-operated with the ATP’s investigation and am grateful for the organisation’s time and attention in this matter.”
According to Rothenberg, Zverev successfully sued Slate over the article in Germany and a court issued a preliminary injunction ordering it be taken down there, but it remains available in the US and elsewhere.
Zverev and Rothenberg remain in a legal battle over his reporting on the allegations of domestic abuse. Rothenberg has launched a Go Fund Me page to raise money for his legal defence.
What happened to the criminal charges in the German court?
Zverev appealed the penalty order and a public trial began on May 31 last year in Berlin.
Ahead of the trial, the court released information on the case:
“In May 2020, he (Zverev) is said to have briefly choked his then-partner’s neck with both hands in the stairwell of a Berlin apartment building during an argument. The alleged victim is said to have suffered shortness of breath and considerable pain.”
On June 7 last year it was announced that Zverev had settled the case out of court after agreeing to terms with Patea and the prosecutor’s office. It included payment of €200,000 ($330,000), 75 per cent of which went to German state treasury and the balance went to non-profit organisations.
Alexander Zverev in his post-match media conference after losing the Australian Open final 3-6, 6-7 (4-7), 3-6.Credit: AP
“The decision is not a verdict and it is not a decision about guilt or innocence,” the court told the BBC.
In a statement, Zverev’s legal team said he agreed to it “in order to shorten the process especially in the interest of the child they have together.”
What was Zverev’s response following his loss to Sinner?
“I believe there are no more accusations. There haven’t been for, what, nine months now. Good for her [the spectator]. I think she was the only one in the stadium who believed anything in that moment.
“If that’s the case, good for her. I think I’ve done everything I can, and I’m not about to open that subject again.”
What Australian Open organisers say of the protest?
Tournament director Craig Tiley said the protestor’s actions during the award ceremony were disruptive.
“She was disruptive to the players in that instance, to the rest of the fans that were enjoying the rest of the final. Rightly so she should be evicted because we don’t tolerate behaviour that is designed to be disruptive and that’s what her behaviour was designed to do.”
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