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Alexander Zverev again denies domestic abuse allegations: ‘It makes me sad’

Alexander Zverev again denied domestic abuse allegations made against him by his former girlfriend on Friday, days before the ATP Finals kick off in London.

Zverev’s ex-girlfriend and former Russian tennis player, Olga Sharypova, said Zverev tried to strangle her with a pillow and hit her head against a wall in 2019.

Zverev, who is currently ranked No. 7 in the world, denied the allegations again on Friday, saying “that’s not who I am.”

“These accusations are just unfounded and untrue,” Zverev said while looking at his phone in his lap, via The Associated Press. “We had our ups and downs but the way our relationship is described in the public is not how it was. That’s not who I am, that’s not how I was raised by my parents. That’s not just simply who I am as a person.

“It makes me sad that the impact of such false accusations can have on the sport, on the outside world, on myself as well. I truly apologize that the focus has shifted away from the sport.”

Zverev accused of domestic abuse

Sharypova said last month that Zverev tried to strangle her with a pillow and hit her head against a wall in a New York hotel room ahead of the U.S. Open in 2019, according to The Associated Press, and that she feared for her life. She told Racquet Magazine that Zverev had become “increasingly emotionally and physically abusive over the course of their relationship,” which lasted just more than a year.

Sharypova initially accused an unnamed ex-boyfriend of the abuse on Instagram, and later clarified that it was Zverev.

Zverev took to Twitter to deny her allegations.

“[The allegations] make me very sad,” he wrote. “We have known each other since we were children and shared many experiences together. I very much regret that she makes such statements. Because the accusations are simply not true.

“We had a relationship, but it ended a long time ago. Why Olga is making these allegations now, I just don’t know. I really hope that the two of us will find a way to deal with each other again in a reasonable and respectful way.”

Zvevev, 23, is fresh off his runner-up finish at the US Open in September, when he fell to Dominic Theim in a wild fifth-set tiebreak in New York. He was knocked out of the French Open in October, and admitted after that match that he shouldn’t have played because he was “completely sick.” It’s unclear if he ever tested positive for COVID-19, though he did test negative days before that final match in Paris.

Zverev fell to Daniil Medvedev at the ATP Paris Masters last month, his final outing before the ATP Finals kick off on Sunday.

Germany's Alexander Zverev
Germany's Alexander Zverev was accused by an ex-girlfriend of trying to strangle her with a pillow and hitting her head against a hotel room wall. (Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP/Getty Images)

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