Alexander Zverev Won the US Open. What Are We to Do About His Personal History?

At 7:51 p.m. on Sunday night, a child no older than five rehearsed what would be the first question for newly crowned U.S. Open champion Alexander Zverev at his post-match press conference. An official had given notice a half-hour earlier that Zverev would be arriving at eight, but then came another message at 7:59: "Zverev is running late, so I will advise when he is on his way."

"What a surprise," a journalist moaned. It’s not the first time the 29-year-old German has moved at his own pace. Most people stuck around at first—players sometimes dive-bomb press conferences in the hopes of getting out as fast as possible, leaving journalists who thought they had time to spare in the lurch—but over the course of the next hour, correspondents from both tennis-specific and general interest outlets left in a huff. The child looked forlornly at a wall. Zverev, in a navy- and white-striped tracksuit, his face clear of the scruff he’d had on court, eventually walked in just after nine, gleaming trophy in arm.

Zverev is having a banner year. Though he's been winning big tournaments since 2017, a coveted major title eluded him until 2026 and often seemed like it would forever. First blocked by old GOATs Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, then by the insurgent duo of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, Zverev had earned the lukewarm distinction of "best player to never win a major." His performances in major finals were poor: he choked away big leads in a couple and played too passively in another. In 2022, he suffered a gruesome ankle injury while locked in an attritional battle with Rafael Nadal at the French Open and needed a year to regain his form.

This season, though, Zverev caught a few auspicious breaks. Alcaraz and Sinner fell to injuries and upsets at the French and U.S. Opens, opening the door for Zverev to lift both titles. The pressure of being the favorite to win a major title has crippled others, but Zverev handled it with aplomb at both tournaments. He's managed to stay healthy, too. On top of his narratively pleasing career arc, Zverev is a Type 1 diabetic and, still, one of the tour's most reliable endurance performers. He’s refined a serve that once poured double faults like a faucet into one of the best weapons on tour. In a tennis-only vacuum, he's an inspirational story of physical and emotional persistence.

In the real world, Zverev has also been accused of abuse by two former partners, allegations he denies but that nonetheless hang over him at every tournament given the in-depth, horrifying accounts reported by the journalist Ben Rothenberg. The ATP Tour conducted an investigation and announced in 2023 that they would not pursue disciplinary action. Zverev settled an abuse case with the mother of his child in 2024, though a court spokesperson stressed that the result wasn’t a reflection on innocence or guilt and that "the truth remains open." Throughout it all, Zverev has continued to play tennis at a high level, routinely making the late stages of majors.

To say that Alexander Zverev is a divisive figure in tennis would be an understatement. A significant, vocal group of fans don't want to watch Zverev at all, frequently rooting for him to lose and breathing a collective sigh of relief when he does. Others cheer for him online or in person; plenty of women audibly rooted for him at yesterday’s final against the American Ben Shelton. The ATP Tour promotes Zverev without reservation; the Laver Cup’s official X account went so far as to block users who made mention of Zverev’s case. And though many journalists invoke the allegations made against him, TV broadcasters rarely do the same, with the notable exception of recent Hall of Fame inductee Mary Carillo. Every time Zverev wins or comes close to lifting a big title, his ugly personal history rears its head again, complicating the easy narrative of his on-court career.

It's a strange stasis. The allegations may not have resulted in a conviction or a ban, but they’re too serious to look away from. Zverev himself hasn't engaged with or talked about them in a satisfying way, nor has he given any indication he understands the gravity of being accused of domestic violence. Due in part to the immensely popular Sincaraz regime, Zverev's scandal-ridden past hasn’t affected the sport’s image all that much. But in some ways, he’s a millstone around the tour's neck. Alcaraz and Sinner are straightforwardly likable superstars, with a budding, beautiful rivalry to boot. Novak Djokovic has been a fascinating watch as age begins to take its toll. Other players at the top of the tour intrigue for their style, personality, or (a healthy amount of) controversy. By and large, Zverev is the sport’s only appreciable blemish.

But that’s not how he sees it. After winning the French Open, Zverev told the journalist Quentin Moynet that the accusations against him had been "proven false," which is untrue. And after settling the case in 2024, Zverev made it clear he feels he has nothing to answer for. "I never, ever want to hear another question about the subject again,” he said in a French Open press conference. “That goes out to everybody." For the most part, everyone’s abided. He answered the child’s question after the U.S. Open final, then got only six more from the rest of the press corps, each of which were about tennis. But there should be no mistaking what was on many people’s minds.

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