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Alexander Zverev criticized for US Open girlfriend joke amid abuse allegations

Alexander Zverev is facing backlash after a joke he made in an interview came across insensitively in light of domestic violence allegations that he has faced. 

After defeating Jannik Sinner to advance to the US Open quarterfinals, Zverev was asked in his post-match interview if he wears his Olympic gold medal in his hotel room.

“I cuddle with it at night,” Zverev answered, laughing. “I don’t have a girlfriend, I don’t have anybody next to me, so the gold medal obviously sleeps next to me instead, which is very good. It’s with me here, just a little reminder of what happened last month and I kind of take the energy of that with me into the tournament here.”

The quip was not well received by everyone, because Zverev was accused last year of domestic violence by his ex-girlfriend, former tennis player Olga Sharypova.

Liz Roscher, an editor at Yahoo Sports, tweeted, “you know maybe alexander zverev shouldn’t make jokes about not having a girlfriend all things considered.”

Alexander Zverev at the US Open on Sept. 2, 2021.
Alexander Zverev at the US Open on Sept. 2, 2021. Getty Images

UK tennis writer James Gray tweeted, of Zverev’s medal joke, that “You couldn’t make it up.”

Sharypova told Ben Rothenberg of Racquet Magazine about an alleged incident at the Lotte New York Hotel during a fight with Zverev in 2019 during the US Open.

“It wasn’t our normal fight — it was really scary,” Sharypova said. “I was screaming, and because of that he threw me down onto the bed, took a pillow, and then sat on my face. I couldn’t breathe for some time, and I’m just trying to get out of it. I’m screaming and started to run.”

Sharypova said she ran away, first to the first floor reception area of the hotel, and later outside. In an interview with Slate, also with Rothenberg, which ran last month, Sharypova made more graphic allegations of violence committed against her by Zverev on multiple occasions.

Zverev has denied the allegations. “I have engaged my German and American lawyers in the matter,” he wrote in a statement on his Twitter page. “They have already obtained a preliminary injunction against the source and the author who published the false allegations. The court followed our arguments and states, the accusations aroused are defamatory and false. The lawyers have therefore initiated further proceedings against the source and the author.

Olga Sharypova watching Alexander Zverev play in 2019.
Olga Sharypova watching Alexander Zverev play in 2019. Getty Images

“I categorically and unequivocally deny having abused Olya,” Zverev continued. “I also fully support the creation of an ATP domestic violence policy. I will not address this matter any further.”

“We stand by our fair and accurate reporting based on multiple sources and interviews,” Katie Rayford, Slate’s director of media relations, told the New York Times in a statement.