"Anything but safe" - Alexander Zverev not in Berlin?
Alexander Zverev's participation in the invitation tournament in Berlin next week is "anything but certain". That says tournament director Edwin Weindorfer, who still hopes for the promise of the German number one.
by SID
last edit: Jul 08, 2020, 12:01 pm
Confidence sounds different. "It is anything but certain that Alexander Zverev will play with us," says Edwin Weindorfer. The Austrian is organizing an invitation tournament for men and women in Berlin from July 13 to 19, the driving force of which is Germany's top player Zverev (te). Now this has somehow submerged, and his management had not commented on the participation of the world ranked seventh in Berlin until Wednesday morning, Weindorfer told SID.
The situation has a history. Zverev, who allegedly has been testing long-term cooperation with coach David Ferrer in Monte Carlo since the beginning of the week, "not only made one mistake, but two," Weindorfer told the Süddeutsche Zeitung last week. He was referring to Zverev's behavior during the much-discussed Adria tour and in a video that showed him shortly afterwards at an exuberant party.
Clear rules of conduct in Berlin
In Berlin "something like that is impossible," added Weindorfer: "Here are very clear rules of conduct." What this looks like, he left no doubt about it: "We have zero tolerance. If a player misbehaves and thinks he can party this week, we will eliminate that player."
At least it seems that Zverev is sulking. Nevertheless, Weindorfer had retained a small remnant of confidence on Wednesday morning. "Of course I still hope that Sascha will play with us," he said: "We also have a contract." Which should offer a legitimate way out at any time in times of corona and travel restrictions.
A way out, as Nick Kyrgios announced in Berlin will take. The Australian is stuck in his hometown Melbourne, which has been isolated in a corona lockdown since Tuesday. Hard to imagine that he can or may start the trip to Germany, but his participation would not be without explosiveness. In Berlin, Austria's world ranking third Dominic Thiem is supposed to compete, and Kyrgios is currently delivering a remarkable verbal skirmish via Twitter.
Thiem defends Zverev
Zverev also plays a major role in this. Thiem had been upset in the Tyrolean daily newspaper about criticism of his colleague in Germany: "I don't like the way people criticize him. He is treated as if he were a primary school child. But he is a 23-year-old man." Of course, Zverev made mistakes - "but I don't understand why everyone is getting involved," said Thiem. Zverev had been tested negatively, "only his mistake was that he was unlucky enough to be filmed at the party."
This completely upset Kyrgios, who had already heavily criticized Zverev, and publicly questioned Thiem: "What are you talking about, Dominic Thiem? None of you have the intellectual skills to understand what I am about. I am concerned it's about responsibility. "
Kyrgios once again tackled the trio Thiem, Zverev and Novak Djokovic , who fell into disrepute on the Adriatic tour. "It shows what a joke it is. Two of them celebrate during a global pandemic. People lose their lives, their relatives and friends, and then Thiem talks about a 'mistake'. And people like that are at the top of ours Sports. "