Acapulco – Australian Open winner Rafael Nadal hopes that Olympic tennis champion Alexander Zverev’s outburst can serve as a cautionary negative example.
Zverev had hit the umpire’s chair several times with his tennis racket in Acapulco, Mexico, after losing a doubles match and was subsequently ruled out for the rest of the tournament. “I think he deserves the punishment because you can’t act like that on the court,” Nadal said: “I hope it’s a learning process for him and for other young players who lose their nerves.”
Zverev, 24, from Hamburg, had subsequently apologised for his behaviour and announced that he would learn the lessons from the incident. Because of the disqualification, Zverev cannot defend his title in Acapulco.
Meanwhile, record Grand Slam winner Nadal advanced to the quarter-finals with a clear 6-0, 6-3 win over Stefan Kozlov of the USA. The 35-year-old has now won all of his twelve matches this year, making it the best start to a season ever, according to the men’s organisation ATP.
