the domestic violence trial against Alexander Zverev abandoned after an amicable agreement

The German tennis player has reached an agreement with his ex-partner, mother of their child, who was suing him for domestic violence, German justice announced on Friday.

German justice announced, Friday June 7, the abandonment of the trial against tennis player Alexander Zverev, world number 4, competing for the semi-finals of Roland-Garros, after an amicable agreement with his ex-partner who accused him of domestic violence.

The player will, however, have to pay an amount of 200,000 euros within one month, announced judge Barbara Lüders, on the third day of hearing of this case before a Berlin court. Alexander Zverev and his ex-partner Brenda Patea “came to the conclusion that they wanted to resolve this conflict peacefully, also in the interests of their common child“, explained court spokeswoman Inga Wahlen.

The court validated this request, without revealing the content of the extrajudicial agreement between the two parties. The 27-year-old German star, who will play the second semi-final of Roland-Garros on Friday afternoon against the Norwegian Casper Ruud, had contested a first instance judgment, which imposed a fine of 450,000 euros on him in October 2023 for “assault” against his former partner.

Justice accused him of having, in May 2020 in Berlin, “physically abused“the complainant in the context of an argument and”for having harmed his health“, according to the court. The tennis player was accused of having “briefly strangled his then partner with both hands at neck level“, causing him”breathing difficulties and considerable pain“, according to court documents. The defense of Alexander Zverev, absent from the first hearings and whose presence was not required by the court, had contested any mistreatment, denouncing “unreliable and contradictory claims“, according to the player’s lawyer Alfred Dierlamm.

On Monday, Zverev’s ex-partner testified behind closed doors in court. Her lawyer had criticized attempts to undermine his client’s credibility and the exercise of psychological pressure against her. After the first very bitter hearings between the two parties, this amicable settlement is welcome because “one can imagine how this would have continued”underlined the judge.

The continuation of this legal battle would have “permanently harmed“like the two, she added, what would have been”disproportionate to the alleged facts“. The prosecution accepted the abandonment of the trial, noting that “the civil party no longer has an interest in the criminal prosecution“.

The couple had a daughter and were in conflict over custody. The player accepted the abandonment of the trial “with the sole aim of shortening the procedure, especially in the interest of their child“, reacted his lawyers Anna Sophie Heuchemer and Katharina Dierlamm in a press release. He “is still considered innocent. The dismissal of proceedings does not imply a finding or recognition of guilt“, they add.