Novak Djokovic mentioned he supported a home violence coverage for tennis following allegations made towards Alexander Zverev after the highest seed reached the final 4 on the ATP Finals on Friday. The Serbian beat his German opponent 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) and can play US Open champion Dominic Thiem in Saturday’s semi-finals. Zverev, who gained the 2018 ATP Finals in London, has been competing underneath the shadow of great abuse claims made by his ex-girlfriend Olga Sharypova. He strongly denies the allegations, which have been made by the previous junior participant on Instagram and in two media interviews, however has not addressed them in any element.
The ATP, which runs the boys’s tour, had been criticised for not making any public remark till final week, when it issued a generic assertion saying it “totally condemns any type of violence or abuse”.
A number of main American sports activities have a coverage setting out a process to be adopted in such conditions, and Djokovic believes tennis ought to go down the identical route.
“I’ve identified Sascha (Zverev) for a really very long time since he was very younger,” he mentioned. “I all the time had an incredible relationship with him, he is a really good man. I’ve lots of respect for him, his household. I used to be unhappy to listen to that he is going via one thing like this.
“I do not know what occurred. Clearly I am not supporting any sort of violence. Whether or not ATP ought to develop a coverage? Sure, why not? Most likely it needs to be there in place.”
Tennis has largely closed ranks round Zverev, with Australian Daria Gavrilova a notable exception in saying she believes Sharypova, and Djokovic has provided the German his assist.
“He is been dealing with it properly by the appears of his ends in the final month-and-a-half or so. He is been doing properly contemplating he is obtained rather a lot on his plate off the court docket,” mentioned the world primary.
“I sincerely want for him that he overcomes this quickly and that he can give attention to his life and tennis profession.”
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Zverev once more implied he wouldn’t be taking authorized motion — one thing Sharypova has additionally mentioned — and, regardless of the allegations and the coronavirus pandemic, declared it had been a “nice 12 months”.
The 23-year-old reached the semi-finals on the Australian Open and the US Open closing.
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