Grand Slam record winner Rafael Nadal has spoken out on the freak-out of his tennis colleague Alexander Zverev in Acapulco. The Spaniard clearly criticised the German number one.
Australian Open winner Rafael Nadal hopes that the freak-out of tennis Olympic champion Alexander Zverev can serve as a warning negative example. Zverev had hit the umpire’s chair several times with his tennis racket after losing a doubles match in Acapulco, Mexico. In addition, he insulted the umpire with wild words .
He was then suspended 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.”
World number one Novak Djokovic, who is currently playing in the Dubai tournament, also thinks the disqualification is appropriate. “Hopefully he can reflect and make sure something like this doesn’t happen again,” Djokovic said, “I’m sure he will approach this with the maturity he needs.”
In addition, Djokovic said, “He realises it was a mistake. I understand the frustration. Sometimes you feel a lot of different emotions in the heat of the moment on the court. But of course I’m not justifying his behaviour. “
Zverev can’t defend title
The 24-year-old Zverev from Hamburg had apologised for his behaviour afterwards (read more here) and announced that he would learn the lessons from the incident. Because of the disqualification, Zverev will not be able to defend his title in Acapulco.
Record Grand Slam winner Nadal, meanwhile, advanced to the quarter-finals with an emphatic 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.
