Alexander Zverev speaks out as he faces no action after abuse claims

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Alexander Zverev has spoken out after the ATP decided to take no further action against him following the conclusion of the investigation into abuse allegations.

The world No 14 had been accused by his former girlfriend, Olga Sharypova, of being emotionally and physically abusive during their relationship. She also claimed some incidents took place at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Shanghai in 2019, as well as in Monaco, New York and Geneva.

A 15-month independent investigation, conducted by investigators Lake Forest Group, has now concluded and found there was “insufficient evidence to substantiate published allegations of abuse”. Following the results, the 2020 US Open finalist, who maintained his innocence from the very beginning, took to instagram to share his reaction and claimed justice had been done.

“From the beginning, I have maintained my innocence and denied the baseless allegations made against me,” the German began. “I welcomed and fully cooperated with the ATP’s investigation and am grateful for the organisation’s time and attention in this matter.

JUST IN: Alexander Zverev to face no action from ATP as abuse investigation concludes

“This decision marks a third, neutral, third-party arbiter who has reviewed all relevant information and made a clear and informed decision on this matter in my favour. In addition to the ATP’s independent investigation, I have also initiated court proceedings in Germany and Russia, both of which I have won.

“I am grateful that this is finally resolved and my priority now is recovering from injury and concentrating on what I love most in this world — tennis. I want to thank my friends, family and fans for their ongoing support. We followed the long and difficult process and justice has prevailed.”

The ATP also said that LFG had not only conducted extensive interviews with the former couple but 24 others including family, friends and other players. Submissions including text messages, audio files, and photographs were also examined.

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“Based on a lack of reliable evidence and eyewitness reports, in addition to conflicting statements by Sharypova, Zverev and other interviewees, the investigation was unable to substantiate the allegations of abuse, or determine that violations of ATP’s on-site offences or player major offenses rules took place,” the ATP said.

“As a result, no disciplinary action against Zverev will be taken by ATP. This determination may however be reevaluated should new evidence come to light, or should any legal proceedings reveal violations of ATP rules. Zverev has consistently denied all allegations and supported ATP’s investigation.”

Massimo Calvelli, the ATP’s CEO added: “The seriousness and complexity of these allegations required an extremely thorough investigative process and considerable resources. It also required us to turn to specialist investigators, which was new ground for ATP. We ultimately believe the exhaustive process was necessary to reach an informed judgement. It has also shown the need for us to be more responsive on safeguarding matters. It is the reason we’ve taken steps in that direction, with a lot of important work still ahead.”

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