Alexander Zverev breaks silence after ATP’s ruling on domestic abuse case – ‘Justice has prevailed’

ATP Tour
Alexander Zverev talks to the media

Alexander Zverev has issued a statement after the ATP confirmed it will take no action against him as an investigation into allegations of domestic abuse found “insufficient evidence”.

The German’s former girlfriend Olya Sharypova accused him of domestic abuse in 2020, claiming Zverev physically and emotionally abused her in hotel rooms at several different events in 2019.

Zverev denied the allegations, but the ATP launched an investigation in October 2021, specifically focusing on incidents at the Masters 1000 event in Shanghai in 2019, as well as other locations including Monaco, New York and Geneva.

On Monday the ATP confirmed that the investigation was unable to substantiate the allegations and the governing body added the 25-year-old will not face any further action.

READ MORE: ATP confirms it will take no action against Alexander Zverev after domestic abuse investigation

Zverev, who protested his innocence throughout the ordeal, took to Instagram to express his relief.

“From the beginning, I have maintained my innocence and denied the baseless allegations made against me,” he wrote. “I welcomed and fully cooperated with the ATP’s investigation and am grateful for the organization’s time and and attention to this matter.

“This decision marks a third, neutral, third-party arbiter who has reviewed all relevant information and made a clear and informed decision on this matter in my favour. In addition to the ATP’s independent investigation, I have also initiated court proceedings in Germany and Russia, both of which I have won.

Zverev has slipped to No 14 in the ATP Rankings after he missed the second half of the 2022 season due to a serious ankle injury.

However, he has set his sights on regaining his best form and hopes to put the domestic abuse saga behind him now that “justice has prevailed”.

“I am grateful that this is finally resolved and my priority now is recovering from injury and concentrating on what I love most in this world — tennis.

“I want to thank my friends, family and fans for their ongoing support. We followed the long and difficult process and justice has prevailed.”

A statement from the ATP revealed that Lake Forest Group (LFG), a third-party investigator, had “extensive interviews with both Sharypova and Zverev, and 24 other individuals including family and friends, tennis players, and other parties involved with the ATP Tour”.

“The investigation reviewed submissions by both Sharypova and Zverev, including text messages, audio files, and photos. This included materials voluntarily extracted from Zverev’s electronic devices via a third-party forensic expert.”

The ruling stated: “Based on a lack of reliable evidence and eyewitness reports, in addition to conflicting statements by Sharypova, Zverev and other interviewees, the investigation was unable to substantiate the allegations of abuse, or determine that violations of ATP’s On-Site Offenses or Player Major Offenses rules took place.”

Alexander Zverev

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