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Three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray described Alexander Zverev's behavior in an Acapulco doubles loss as "dangerous and reckless." Zverev was irrate with some of the calls the chair umpire made during the match tie-break of his and Marcelo Melo's doubles opener in Acapulco.
Zverev started using the offensive language and even called the chair umpire an "idiot." After he and Melo lost, Zverev smashed his racket multiple times on the umpire's chair. "Look, it was not good. It was dangerous, reckless," Murray said of the Zverev outburst, as quoted on Barron's.
"I obviously understand lots of players, athletes across lots of sports, can get very frustrated. Certainly me, myself, I've not always acted in the way I would want on the tennis court. I'm certainly not claiming to be an angel.
I'm not perfect myself, "However, when you're ripping your tennis racquet right next to the umpire multiple times, yeah, you can't be doing that."
Zverev disqualified from Acapulco
Zverev, who was scheduled to meet Peter Gojowczyk in the Acapulco round-of-16, was disqualified from the singles event shortly after his outburst.
Zverev released a statement, insisting he feels truly sorry and that he will use this experience to grow. "It is difficult to put into words how much I regret my behavior during and after the doubles match yesterday," Zverev wrote.
"I have privately apologized to the chair umpire because my outburst towards him was wrong and unacceptable, and I am only disappointed in myself. It just should not have happened and there is no excuse. I would also like to apologize to my fans, the tournament, and the sport that I love." "As you know, I leave everything on the court.
Yesterday, I left too much. I'm going to take the coming days to reflect - on my actions and how I can ensure that it will not happen again. I'm sorry for letting you down."