With unforgivable anger, Alexander Sverev not only ruined his chances of defending his title at the tennis tournament in Agapulko, but also badly damaged his image that had been enhanced by winning the Olympics. After a really trivial defeat in the doubles division on Tuesday (local time), Sverev hit the referee’s chair several times with his tennis racket, in which the referee sat. Once, the 24-year-old hit the referee almost in the leg and he was repeatedly insulted loudly after a controversial decision.
The men’s organization, the ATP, responded immediately and excluded Sverre from the next round of competition due to “non-sporting behavior”. Thus Munich’s Peter Kojovsky advanced to the quarterfinals without a fight. A few hours after Sverev entered the history books of tennis with his amazing first round victory at 4:55 am, Sverev created a glorious chapter.
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Considering the difficulties – a game on the ATP tour did not end later – it would have been wise to avoid starting in doubles with his friend Marcelo Melo from Brazil. But Sverev played with Melo, initially losing to Brit Lloyd Glaspool and Finn Harry Heliovara in a tie-break match 2: 6, 6: 4, 6:10 – and then completely lost his composure.
The fact that he gave his demolished scam to a fan after the frenzy should have only brought some sympathy points to Sverre from this supporter. Otherwise, the picture of the German athlete of the year has again received significant scratches. Internationally, Sverev is viewed critically anyway because the ATP investigations against him are still ongoing due to unproven violent allegations from his ex-girlfriend Olga Skripova.
From a sports perspective, 2022 is off to a bad start
At home, however, the image of Hamburg natives has recently changed. The way Sverev won gold at the Olympics in Tokyo and the way he always reliably assured Germany of what the medal meant to him significantly increased his sympathetic values.
The current oddity of the tournament taking place in Acapulco is now part of a false start to his game in 2022. Sverev started the season with big ambitions and finally with the goal of winning the Grand Slam tournament. But at the Australian Open, after a mysterious performance against Canadian Denis Shapovalov, he has already finished in the 16th round.
The lack of title defense at Acapulco indicates another setback, especially as he showed fighting spirit only in the first-round victory over American Jensen Brooksby. Sverev will continue in Indian Wells in the second week of March. Until then, he will have time to think about his behavior and how he will return to winning form at the ATP Finals in Turin at the end of 2021. (dpa)
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