German court issues penalty order against Zverev over allegation he caused bodily harm to a woman

BERLIN (AP) — A German court has issued a penalty order against tennis player Alexander Zverev over allegations he caused bodily harm to a woman. Zverev has disputed the allegations and is contesting the penalty order.

The court in Berlin issued the order on Oct. 2, including a requirement for Zverev to pay fines amounting to 450,000 euros ($475,000), a statement from the courts service issued Tuesday said. He is accused of physically abusing and damaging the health of a woman during an argument in Berlin in May 2020, the statement added.

The statement said that Zverev was contesting the order and that the case would likely go to trial at the Tiergarten district court in Berlin after the court has heard further from the parties involved.

Penalty orders are used in Germany as a means of resolving some criminal cases without going to trial, if the suspect does not contest the order.

The 26-year-old Zverev was a finalist at the U.S. Open in 2020, won the men’s singles Olympic gold medal in 2021 and is ninth in the rankings.

A law firm acting for Zverev, Schertz Bergmann, issued a statement Tuesday saying that he rejects the allegations. It alleged there were procedural irregularities in the case against him and said it had expert medical evidence in Zverev‘s favor.

Zverev denied the allegations in comments at a tournament in July after the prosecutors’ office had filed the application for the penalty order.

In January, an investigation by the men’s tennis tour found “insufficient evidence” to substantiate separate claims of domestic abuse by Zverev. The ATP had commissioned the investigation in October 2021 after Zverev’s former girlfriend, Olya Sharypova, accused him of abuse.

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