Zverev on freak out: "It was the worst moment of my life"

Tennis Olympic champion Alexander Zverev is embarrassed by his freak out in Acapulco and the racket attack on the referee's chair two weeks ago.

"It was definitely the worst moment of my life and my career," said the 24-year-old from Hamburg at a press conference before the ATP tournament in Indian Wells on Wednesday (local time).

"Sorry is probably not enough given the way I've been acting.

It was embarrassing for me, it's still embarrassing when I'm walking around or in the locker room.

It's not a nice feeling."

The day before, ATP had punished Zverev with an eight-week suspended ban.

In addition, the number three in the world rankings was fined an additional $ 25,000 – also on probation – as the ATP announced on Tuesday.

This means that Zverev cannot afford any further violations that lead to a fine for unsportsmanlike conduct up to and including February 22, 2023 - one year after the incident.

At the tournament in Acapulco, the 24-year-old had hit the referee's chair with his racket several times after losing in doubles, on which the referee was still sitting.

He was disqualified and fined $40,000.

In addition, the Hamburger has to pay back the prize money of more than 30,000 dollars and loses the points for the world rankings.

"That was probably the biggest mistake of my tennis career," said Zverev.

"At the end of the day I hope people can forgive me and understand that there is a lot of mental pressure and things happen that people don't see and that we are all human.

It's not easy for me.

But I deserve that it's not easy for me right now."

Zverev and the Davis Cup in Hamburg

Meanwhile, Davis Cup critic Zverev is actively supporting Hamburg as the host and is confident for the group phase in autumn.

"I think, or it looks like it's looking very good and hopefully we can bring the German team and also the Davis Cup to Hamburg in September," said the tennis Olympic champion of the German Press Agency on the sidelines of the ATP tournament at Indian Wells.

His participation in the successful Davis Cup qualifier against Brazil in Rio de Janeiro last week only looked short-lived from the outside.

"It seemed short-term, but it wasn't at all because I've been talking about it with our captain since the Australian Open.

A business partner and I are working on bringing the Davis Cup to Germany and of course we had to qualify first," said the 24-year-old.

The man from Hamburg won both his games in Brazil and played a major role in the German team's entry into the group stage.

He is in “constant contact, weekly contact, we talk about the business idea and so on and so forth.

We have already made an offer to the Davis Cup team that hosts the Davis Cup and now the only question is whether they will accept our offer or not," said Zverev.

Zverev does not see the fact that he, as a big critic of the new format, has long refused to play in the Davis Cup as a contradiction.

"I've always said I'm not a huge fan of it.

But I'm a huge fan of what happened in Rio, for example: the away games, the home games.

I'm a huge fan of that," he said.

The fact that the format is now divided and that everything is no longer played in one place in December, as was the case last year, “is a huge step in the right direction.

That's why I try to be open-minded, especially now when I can be part of the event and we can play as a German team in Germany," said Zverev.

"It would be a huge highlight for me to be able to play in Hamburg, and I just think it's a good idea."

Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic does not play in the ATP tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami.

The former number one in the tennis world rankings justified this decision on Wednesday by saying that the US health authority CDC did not change its rules for entry and that he could not compete in the two events.

The Serb had stated in a BBC interview in mid-February that he was still not vaccinated against the corona virus.

He was seeded number two in the Indian Wells top-flight event.

Due to the withdrawal, the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrow is now in the seeding list.

The day before, the organizers of the Masters 1000 tournament, where Tommy Haas is tournament director, had announced that they were in contact with Djokovic's team and that it was unclear whether the Serb could enter the USA.

The 34-year-old said he wished the participants in the tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami good luck.

Djokovic was expelled from the country just before the start of the Australian Open earlier this year and was therefore unable to defend his title in Melbourne.

The long-time number one in the world had traveled to Australia believing that it had an entry permit.

A federal court, however, decided otherwise.

Djokovic has played his only tournament this year in Dubai.

There, only a negative PCR test was required to participate, but no vaccination against the corona virus.