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Asked about it during a news conference ahead of the ATP Finals on Friday, the 2018 champion said, “These accusations are just unfounded and untrue... That’s not who I am, that’s not how I was raised by my parents.”

LONDON (AP) — German tennis player Alexander Zverev gave a more detailed denial of domestic abuse allegations made by a former girlfriend, saying Friday “that's not who I am.”

Olga Sharypova previously said that the 23-year-old Zverev tried to strangle her with a pillow before last year’s US Open.

The seventh-ranked Zverev was asked about it during a news conference ahead of the ATP Finals that begin Sunday in London. He has previously denied the accusations on social media and in brief comments, but elaborated Friday.

“These accusations are just unfounded and untrue,” he said. "We had our ups and downs but the way our relationship is described in the public is not how it was. That’s not who I am, that’s not how I was raised by my parents. That’s not just simply who I am as a person.


“It makes me sad that the impact of such false accusations can have on the sport, on the outside world, on myself as well. I truly apologize that the focus has shifted away from the sport.”

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Zverev was looking down toward his phone on his lap as he spoke.

Sharypova initially accused an unnamed ex-boyfriend of abuse on Instagram. But in an interview with Russian sports website Championat, Sharypova said Zverev attempted to strangle her with a pillow and hit her head against a wall at a New York hotel before the U.S. Open in 2019. She said she feared for her life at the time.

In a Racquet magazine interview published this month, Sharypova said Zverev was emotionally and physically abusive to her.

wenty-three time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams said she would have faced far harsher punishment had she engaged in similar behavior to German Alexander Zverev, who was thrown out of a tournament last month for unsportsmanlike conduct.

The world number three was kicked out of the ATP 500 event in Acapulco after he smashed his racket repeatedly against the umpire's chair after a doubles defeat. read more

Zverev was later fined $40,000 for the incident, in which he came perilously close to hitting umpire Alessandro Germani. read more

"There is absolutely a double standard," former world number one Williams told CNN reporter Christiane Amanpour. "I would probably be in jail if I did that - like, literally, no joke.

"I was actually on probation once," she added, but declined with a chuckle to discuss further when Amanpour inquired about the incident.

In 2009, the Grand Slam committee placed Williams on probation for two years and fined her $175,000 for a "major offence of aggravated behavior" during her semi-final against eventual champion Kim Clijsters at the U.S. Open.

"You see that (double standard) when you see other things happening on the tour, like, 'wait - if I had done that? Hmm,'" said Williams.

"But it's okay. At the end of the day I am who I am and I love who I am."