Alexander Zverev heckled after he lost in the Australian Open final

This year’s Australian Open was the third Slam in a row where the women’s side was a million times more exciting than the men’s side. American Madison Keys, 29, won her first-ever major title, taking out the #1 and #2 seeds in the semifinal and final, and both of those matches were three-set nail-biters. On the men’s side… *sad clown noise*. Novak Djokovic retired in his semifinal, which meant that German Alexander Zverev got into his third major final. Jannik Sinner – who tested positive for doping twice last year – barely broke a sweat as he marched his way through the draw to defend his first major. So, the final was set: Sinner vs. Zverev. Either Sinner would win his third major or Zverev would win his first. Since I didn’t watch it, I’m just going from commentary: Sinner cleaned Zverev’s clock, winning in straight sets. Zverev didn’t even have any break points.

The thing is, Alex Zverev is largely loathed by real tennis fans and people who are actually paying attention to the tennis world. In 2020, Zverev’s Russian ex-girlfriend Olya gave a heartbreaking interview in which she described months of physical abuse by Zverev. Nothing happened to Zverev after Olya’s interview, and the ATP didn’t even introduce any kind of DV policy for their players. Then, in 2023, Zverev’s former partner and mother of his child, Brenda Patea, also accused him of assaulting her. She sued him in Germany, and Zverev’s team was able to largely sweep it under the rug and settle out of court with Patea. Once again, nothing happened to Zverev’s career, and ATP played dumb when it came to instituting any new policies.

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After Zverev lost in the AO final on Sunday, he got up to the microphone to begin his runner’s up speech. That’s when a woman in the audience shouted out: “Australia believes Olya and Brenda! Australia believes Olya and Brenda!” That’s more than the French crowd did at Roland Garros last year.

Zverev lost his third Grand Slam final against Jannik Sinner, 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-2, and stepped up to the microphone to speak after receiving his runner’s-up trophy.

Before he spoke, a woman in the crowd appeared to shout: “Australia believes Olya and Brenda! Australia believes Olya and Brenda!”

Zverev looked up to the crowd as noise rippled across the stadium, smiling to himself. A few boos and bits of applause followed before Zverev began his speech. The German did not make reference to the heckling when he spoke.

“I believe there are no more accusations. There haven’t been for, what, nine months now. Good for her, I think she was the only one in the stadium who believed anything in that moment,” Zverev said in his news conference when asked about the incident. “I think I’ve done everything I can, and I’m not about to open that subject again.”

[From The NY Times]

“I believe there are no more accusations. There haven’t been for, what, nine months now.” Wow, nine whole months without any current or former girlfriend accusing him of beating the sh-t out of her. An absolute piece of sh-t. People should heckle this motherf–ker every time he steps on court, imo.