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Alexander Zverev in Sydney in January

Photo: Brett Hemmings/Getty Images

Alexander Zverev defends himself against the accusation of having mistreated a woman, now it comes to trial. This is to begin on May 31 before the Tiergarten district court, according to a court spokeswoman. Previously, Deutsche Welle had reported.

In October 2023, the local court had issued a penalty order against Zverev. Accordingly, Zverev was to pay a fine of 450,000 euros (90 daily rates of 5000 euros each) for bodily harm. The tennis player has appealed against this ruling. That is why we are now going to trial.

According to the court spokeswoman, eight days of hearings are initially planned until July 19. Which witnesses are to be heard has not yet been determined. Since it is a penalty order, Zverev could be represented by a lawyer, the spokeswoman explained. "A personal appearance has not been ordered."

The 26-year-old is accused of physically abusing a woman in Berlin in May 2020. The woman making the allegations against Zverev is Brenda Patea, an ex-girlfriend of the tennis pro. Patea became known in 2017 through her participation in the casting show »Germany's Next Topmodel«. According to her lawyer Michael Nitschke, Patea has joined the proceedings as a joint plaintiff. Patea filed a complaint against Zverev in October 2021, her lawyer had said in the fall of 2023. He did not want to comment on the question of why there were almost one and a half years between the alleged crime and the complaint.

Until a final conviction, Zverev is presumed innocent.

"Most serious procedural violations"

The professional athlete's lawyers had announced last October on the occasion of the court's announcement that the allegations on which the penalty order was based had already been refuted by an expert opinion by a Berlin forensic scientist. The proceedings suffered "from the most serious procedural violations". Zverev will take action against it with "all means", it was said in a press release from the Zverev lawyers.

Zverev himself had publicly commented on the accusation for the first time in July 2023 at the tournament in Hamburg. At the time, he said: "From my side, I completely reject the accusations. My lawyers are taking care of the matter. That's all I'm going to say."

kha/dpa