Alexander Zverev shows remorse: "huge mistakes" and "not the smartest"
After two months of silence, tennis star Alexander Zverev has publicly expressed remorse about his controversial behavior during the corona pandemic. "Yes, I made a mistake with the Adria Tour and then also with the birthday party. I made a huge mistake," said the 23-year-old after his second round at the ATP tournament in New York against former world number one Andy Murray (3: 6, 6: 3, 5: 7) . It was "not the smartest thing in the world".
by SID
last edit: Aug 25, 2020, 10:59 am
The excitement of the people, especially about the Adria tour organized by the exceptional player Novak Djokovic, he could "of course understand", added Zverev a week before the start of the US Open (August 31 to September 13). That was "extremely unfortunate" and "unreliable of us," said the German top player: "To have a kids day with 5000 children or to play in front of a full audience was perhaps not the smartest thing ever."
The rules were followed, and the attempt to "bring tennis back a bit" was also laudable. But: "It didn't work the way it was supposed to." On the Adria Tour, the professionals invited had disregarded common hygiene measures at parties and events, and some players like Djokovic himself became infected with the corona virus.
Then a video appeared on the Internet that Zverev showed again at a party. He reacted to the subsequent whirlwind by canceling his start at the invitation tournament in Berlin, which greatly annoyed the organizers. "That was after the Adria Tour, and my manager told me: you'd better stay home," said Zverev. He himself had been "tested negative seven times", but also because of the spectators in Berlin he "did not want to take the risk again".