Alexander Zverev went through a very uncomfortable moment during his Munich Open quarterfinal match as he was called “a wife-beater” by a persistent heckler.
At 5-5 in the second set of the German tennis star’s match against Tallon Griekspoor, someone from the crowd shouted: “Let’s go, you (expletive) wife-beater.”
Since the comment was made in German and the entire clearly understood what was being said, some responded by booing the heckler and making it clear they didn’t appreciate it.
Zverev did his best to stay calm and not react to the provocation. However, after the game ended, the world No. 3 asked chair umpire Fergus Murphy if he could eject the person in question.
“Fergus, Fergus, please kick him out. I don’t want to repeat it. It’s the same guy who did the same thing before my second serve once,” the 2025 Australian Open runner-up told umpire Murphy.
Brenda Patea – the mother of Zverev’s child – accused the German tennis star of physical abuse and they went to court. The case ended by two parties reaching a settlement.
Zverev won after the incident
When the incident occurred, the top seed wasn’t that far away from exiting the match in two sets. But in the end, he managed to overturn the situation and complete a 6-7 (6) 7-6 (3) 6-4 win.
“I’m extremely happy. Finally, I won a close one. I’ve lost a few of those in the past few months and I always said, ‘I need to get one of these’. I did today. I’m extremely happy with how I hung in there, especially in the third set, being 0/40 down in my second service game. I’m proud to win this match and looking forward to the next two, hopefully,” Zverev said.
For a place in the Munich final, the home favorite plays against Fabian Marozsan.
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