Alexander Zverev ‘should not be on court today’ says former world number one

Seven-time Grand Slam winner Justine Henin claims that Alexander Zverev should have been banned for his rage-fuelled outburst in March, as she branded recent behaviour on the ATP tour as “unacceptable”. 

At the Mexico Open back in March, the current World number three was thrown out of the tournament after hitting the umpire’s chair with his racket in the aftermath of a doubles defeat  – narrowly missing the official’s feet. He would also go on to use foul language shouting “For f**k’s sake! It’s f**king your line!”.

The German was handed an eight-week suspended ban and a $25,000 (£19,000) fine, in addition to an earlier fine of $40,000 and forfeit of prize money and ranking points.

However is not the only player to behave in such a manner. Most recently at the ATP Houston Open,  Australia’s Nick Kyrgios was given a point penalty after his second warning for foul language which ultimately cost him the match. He even continued his tirade towards the officials after the match, asking the umpire directly “Do you feel bad? I don’t think you feel bad.”

Former World number one Justine Henin agrees with the harsher ATP punishments and believes that it is time for this sort of behaviour to be stamped out.

Speaking to Eurosport, the Belgian said, “We have to take action. We hope concrete action will be taken so that these extremes stop. You can’t yell at an umpire. Even if there is no intention, it is a problem to break a racket that flies as far as a ball boy.”

“You can be tired… but we can’t see the images of Alexander Zverev again. These are behaviours of intimidation, of rage, which we cannot see and which we must punish much more severely. He should not be on the court today, Alexander Zverev.”

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