Amerie Jo Garza's father, a med aide, says he found out she was one of the victims when he arrived on the scene and was helping another little girl covered in blood. She told him her best friend had been shot. When he asked her name, she said his daughter's. There aren't words.
Alexander Zverev é o 1º jogador em 38 anos a vencer Roland Garros sem derrotar nenhum jogador Top 10 na campanha do título.
Pelo título ele receberá um prêmio de 2.8 milhões de euros, 14x o valor que ele pagou à justiça alemã para encerrar uma acusação de violência doméstica.
Lot of Zverev discourse today.
As someone who stands strongly in the anti-Zverev camp, I’d like to better articulate my thoughts.
1) Alexander Zverev is very likely a domestic abuser. The odds are, in my opinion, at least 80% (2 women, timelines/stories corroborated by others, reported photos/messages, etc).
2) There is a non-zero chance the allegations are false/made up. No charge against him has ever been proven, and the ATP’s investigation couldn’t substantiate the claims.
3) Given 2), it is not possible/fair for him to be removed from the tour.
4) This situation is objectively horrible for tennis, and there is no easy way to deal with it; taking action isn’t feasible but not taking action means lots of people will be, justifiably, furious.
5) Stuff like this is worse for tennis vs team sports because bad actors can more easily be hidden if there are 10 others on the field; in tennis there’s only one.
6) All of this is complicated further by the fact that Zverev is really good, and seemingly destined to be a fixture at the top of the game for years to come (despite being a lifelong underachiever). Also because there are parts of his story––diabetes, injury recovery, constantly coming so close and finally crossing the line––that are very inspirational.
If I knew there was an 80% chance someone punched and strangled their girlfriend, I wouldn’t send them to jail, because that is not beyond a reasonable doubt.
I would not, however, want them to be the face of a sport, or see them idolized and held up as examples for young people and fans.
For all those saying there wasn’t enough proof to convict and therefore the sport shouldn’t address it, or that we should separate one’s actions on and off the court: sure, but that strategy is bad for the long-term health of this sport. I’ve spoken to ~a dozen people this week (men and women, mostly women) who aren’t big tennis fans but are aware of the allegations and either stopped watching or expressed displeasure towards the tour because of them.
I love tennis, and want to be able to enjoy it knowing that, even if my guy loses, the other guy kinda deserves it—or at least that I don’t *actually* hate him. As a big Alcaraz fan, it stinks when Sinner beats him, but it doesn’t ruin me: Sinner is a decent guy, a good role model.
Zverev very likely isn't, and it sucks that someone who is almost certainly a horrible person has now cemented himself in tennis history.
In summary: Alexander Zverev won a grand slam, and everything is worse now.
Oh look at me I’m New York City. I have a cool socialist mayor. My basketball team has perfect vibes and is up 2-0 in the finals. I have the best food and the coolest clubs. I’m the center of the world. Fuck you