Published 16:05 IST, October 30th 2020
Alexander Zverev's ex-girlfriend accuses him of domestic violence at US Open 2019
Alexander Zverev's ex-girlfriend Olya Sharypova has alleged that the US Open finalist continuously abused her during their relationship from 2018 to 2019.
Rising tennis star Alexander Zverev's dream run in 2020 has been overshadowed by two explosive revelations by two ex-girlfriends. The 23-year old German has had a tremendous year, winning back-to-back titles at the bett1HULKS Championships in Colone, Germany. After his second victory, on Monday, October 26, Zverev's life quickly turned upside down.
Zverev domestic violence case: Olya Sharypova alleges domestic abuse
Just hours after Alexander "Sascha" Zverev's ex-girlfriend Brenda Patea revealed that she was 20 weeks pregnant with his child, Zverev's ex-girlfriend, Olya Sharypova has alleged that the US Open finalist continuously abused her during their year-long relationship from 2018 to 2019. In a post on Instagram, Sharypova revealed that she has been the victim of domestic abuse in a relationship. While the post did not reveal who the perpetrator of this abuse was, Sharypova later confirmed in an interview with ChampionAT that she was talking about Zverev.
Sharypova shared that while in New York before the start of the US Open in 2019, Dasha Medvedeva, wife of Daniil Medvedev, and herself got delayed on their way back home from a walk. This threw Zerev into a fit of rage and after some quarrelling, he allegedly tried to smother her with a pillow and twisted her arms painfully.
In her own words: "I was afraid that someone might see and hear us. But in the end, I managed to break free, and I ran off barefoot.”
She also said that this was not the first time this had happened and that Zverev had once pushed her against a wall with so much force that she fell down
Olya also claims that Zverev told her "that no one cares about me [Olya], no matter what he [Zverev] does to me." Alone and barefoot in the middle of a New York street, Olya says that she called up a friend to come and get her. She has also furnished screengrabs from her conversation with her friend where she can be seen telling them that Zverev was refusing to return her passport to her, along with a picture of her belongings thrown on the floor of a hotel lobby.
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Zverev's response to domestic abuse claims
Since these allegations have surfaced, Zverev has only responded with a basic statement saying that Sharypova's statement makes him "very sad". Zverev also questioned Sharypova's motives for revealing this information now, almost a year after the incident.
Olya has clarified that she needed time to realise what had happened to her and decided to talk about it to express her solidarity with other women who were in abusive relationships. No legal action has been revealed to have been taken by either party as of now.
Image Credits: AP and US Open Twitter
Updated 16:05 IST, October 30th 2020