Alexander Zverev 'should be banned from big events, undergo rehab process', says Mats Wilander

ByDan Quarrell

Updated 03/03/2022 at 16:20 GMT

"If a player breaks his racquet on the umpire's chair and he is literally a few centimetres away from hitting the umpire's leg, he should not be allowed to get on a tennis court until he's gone through some kind of rehab, some kind of time," Mats Wilander told Eurosport in response to Alexander Zverev's shocking attack on an umpire's chair in Mexico.

Eurosport expert Mats Wilander has given his views on Alexander Zverev being allowed to continue playing tennis so soon after striking an umpire's chair in a shockingly violent fashion in Mexico.

The world No. 3 was handed the maximum fine by the ATP following his vicious reaction at the Mexican Open as he struck Alessandro Germani’s chair several times with his racquet after his doubles defeat alongside Marcelo Melo against Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara.

Zverev was thrown out of the tournament and fined $40,000 (£30,000), plus a full forfeit of his prize money and ATP ranking points. He had yelled while narrowly avoiding hitting the umpire: "You f****** destroyed the whole f****** match. The whole f****** match".

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The 24-year-old apologised for his outburst and made a sudden U-turn to represent Germany against Brazil in the Davis Cup in Rio de Janeiro on March 4 and 5 - something he has not done since February 2019.

Wilander believes the punishment was nowhere near strong enough and Zverev should not be permitted to be back in action so soon after such a shocking incident.

"If a player breaks his racquet on the umpire's chair and he is literally a few centimetres away from hitting the umpire's leg, he should not be allowed to get on a tennis court until he has gone through some kind of rehab, some kind of time," Wilander told Eurosport.

"We need to punish him accordingly, and allowing him to come out and play professional tennis the week after or two weeks after, that is too soon.

Alexander Zverev - ATP Acapulco

Image credit: Eurosport

"To me, money does not do it, and I think you either give someone with that behaviour a three-month suspension or a six-month suspension. You do not allow him to play the most important tournaments on his calendar. Now, the most important tournaments are most probably the Grand Slams, the ATP 1000, the Davis Cup.

"I mean, I do not know where you draw the line, but certainly going out and competing in any shape or form straight away, it does not seem like that is very fair to other players.

• Corretja: Zverev crossed the line, umpire abuse rules must be stricter
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"Maybe it is time to have some kind of a professional body of tennis that makes all these decisions, and it is the combination of the ATP, the ITF, the WTA, the Olympic committee. We get together, and these kinds of behaviours, no, you're not allowed to play on any circuit until you have gone through some kind of a rehabilitation process.

"So no, it is not great for tennis. For him personally, it is most probably a good move that he can suddenly start playing, not just for himself, but to play for his country and his team-mates. But no, I think that is ... it does not send a great message for professional tennis.

"I applaud him for being an emotional wreck at the end of the loss in a doubles match - that just shows that he cares, but you have to show that you care in different ways.

"I think I go back to what happened against Denis Shapovalov at the Australian Open. After 45 minutes, he was destroying a tennis racquet on the court.

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"I do not like destroying tennis racquets, even though it has become more and more acceptable in the professional world of tennis.

"I absolutely hate that behaviour because there are more tennis players in the world that cannot afford a second racquet. So do not show the kids that that is how we treat the material that we use."

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