BERLIN, March 10. (dpa/EP) –
The German tennis player Alexandez Zverev showed his regret once again on Wednesday for his incident with the chair umpire during the Acapulco (Mexico) tournament and made it clear that it had been “the worst moment” of his life and that he will make sure that happen again.
“I can guarantee that I will never act like this again in my career. It was definitely the worst moment of my life, of my career in general,” Zverev, 24, told the media at the Indian Wells tournament ( United States).
The reigning Olympic champion repeatedly hit the referee’s chair, who was still sitting on it, after finishing the duel he lost with the Brazilian Marcelo Melo against the British Lloyd Glasspool and the Finn Harri Leiovaara, 2-6, 6 -4 and 6-10, an action for which he was expelled from the tournament and for which he apologized hours later. The ATP warned him this Monday of a sanction of eight weeks without competing if he reoffends in a year.
“If that happens again, I should be banned from playing, but I will do my best to make sure it doesn’t happen, not only in the next year but in my entire career,” the Hamburg player said.