The ATP has announced that Alexander Zverev will not face disciplinary action after independent investigators found there was insufficient evidence to substantiate allegations of domestic abuse raised against the Olympic champion by his former girlfriend.
Olga Sharypova, a former junior player, has claimed that Zverev was physically and emotionally abusive during their relationship, citing alleged instances at the Shanghai Masters in 2019 as well as in Monaco, New York and Geneva. Sharypova, a 25-year-old Russian, later elaborated on the allegations in a magazine interview, prompting legal action against the publication by Zverev, who has consistently denied her claims.
An “exhaustive” inquiry, commissioned by the governing body of men’s tennis in October 2021 and conducted by private investigators from the Lake Forest Group, concluded that “a lack of reliable evidence and eyewitness reports” made it impossible to substantiate Sharypova’s allegations. The investigators scrutinised a variety of digital evidence submitted by the two parties, including text messages, sound files and photographs, and also undertook interviews with Zverev, Sharypova and 24 other people.
“Based on a lack of reliable evidence and eyewitness reports, in addition to conflicting statements by Sharypova, Zverev and other interviewees, the investigation was unable to substantiate the allegations of abuse,” the ATP said in a statement.
“As a result, no disciplinary action will be taken.”
The organisation added that the decision could be revisited should fresh evidence emerge, or if legal proceedings “reveal violations of ATP rules”.
In a message posted on social media, Zverev said “justice has prevailed”.
“From the beginning, I have maintained my innocence and denied the baseless allegations made against me,” he wrote. “I welcomed and fully cooperated with the ATP’s investigation and am grateful for the organisation’s time and attention in this matter.
“This decision marks a third neutral, third-party arbiter who has reviewed all relevant information and made a clear and informed decision on this matter in my favour. In addition to the ATP’s independent investigation, I have also initiated court proceedings in Germany and Russia, both of which I have won.
“I am grateful that this is finally resolved and my priority now is recovering from injury and concentrating on what I love most in this world – tennis.”
Massimo Calvelli, the ATP’s chief executive officer, said in a statement that the episode had “shown the need for us to be more responsive on safeguarding matters”.
“The seriousness and complexity of these allegations required an extremely thorough investigative process and considerable resources,” said Calvelli. “It also required us to turn to specialist investigators, which was new ground for ATP. We ultimately believe the exhaustive process was necessary to reach an informed judgement.”
Zverev, ranked 14th after reaching a career-high ranking of No 2 last summer, was beaten by Michael Mmoh in the second round of the Australian Open earlier this month. The 25-year-old missed the second half of last season after he ruptured ankle ligaments against Rafael Nadal in the French Open semi-finals.