\u2022 Here\u2019s this week\u2019s Served podcast:<\/p>\n
\u2022 All hail the great Pete Bodo<\/a>, though we hope it\u2019s not farewell and will make every effort to prevent that!<\/p>\n Let\u2019s hit the questions \u2026<\/p>\n First, let\u2019s rip off the Band-Aid. Predictably, there were a lot of \u201cwhat do we do about Zverev?\u201d questions. I\u2019d rather not be writing about this. Even specific to him, I\u2019d rather be writing about him winning his second major in 90 days or his fascinating trance, in which he lost track of the score while serving out a major final!<\/p>\n But if part of this column is to reflect tennis\u2019s vox populi and address your concerns\/questions, we ought to do this.<\/p>\n \u2022 A) Again, those looking for simple answers will be disappointed. Alexander Zverev has been accused of multiple instances of domestic violence by two former partners. To some, this is an indelible stain. There was no guilty verdict (his case was settled out of court<\/a>). To some, that makes it a moot point, and there is no stain at all. Most of us fall in the middle. There is lingering discomfort. There are also insufficient grounds for a ban. And then what? Some fans won\u2019t watch Zverev play. Some fans find him to be a martyr who has endured allegations\u2014inevitably a \u201cwitch hunt\u201d\u2014that resulted in no conviction.<\/p>\n B) For the media, there is no conversion chart here. Going a full best-of-five match without mentioning two serious charges seems like a dereliction of duty. (Note that Mary Carillo<\/a> is an exception to this.) But allegations, however unseemly and severe, don\u2019t nullify his majors or his rankings, and don\u2019t need to be referenced every time he bounces the ball before serving.<\/p>\n C) I say this not to condemn but to (I hope) elucidate. John McEnroe didn\u2019t mention the allegations against Zverev during the entire U.S. Open final broadcast, but when Zverev went to the net to shake hands with Ben Shelton, McEnroe wished Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner a<\/a> full recovery. Only John knows his intent. Maybe he simply meant that Zverev, again, won a major without facing Alcaraz and Sinner. Maybe it was subconscious. But at the end of the triumphant match, he wasn\u2019t gushing over the No. 1 seed winning his second major in 90 days; instead, he pivoted to two other players. That encapsulates tennis\u2019s collective ambivalence and discomfort here.<\/p>\n D) Me? In both New York and at Roland Garros, I noted the Zverev \u201ccloud\u201d in my columns about his title, but I mentioned it near the end of the story. Some of you wish I had not buried this reference. Others wish I had not tainted his major with a reference \u201cto allegations from years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n E)\u00a0 Facts matter<\/a>. (This<\/a> is as good a write-up as any.) He was never proven innocent, and the allegations were not proven false. Nor was he cleared. There was a settlement, and no guilty verdict is on the books. And if you believe in basic presumptions, you can\u2019t resume calls for a ban. (I put it this way to a casual fan colleague: You don\u2019t have to like him, but you have to acknowledge the absence of a finding of guilt.)\u00a0<\/p>\n F)\u00a0 Truth serum? This, of course, is circumstantial (probably inadmissible in a criminal case) and proves nothing. But I always found this chilling: Zverev stood accused of heinous acts, predicated on violence, power and a lack of impulse control. His reputation has been stained. He has caused great unease within his own workforce. And in February 2022, he was kicked out of the Mexico Open after attacking the umpire\u2019s chair<\/a> with his racket.\u00a0 Because he was displeased with the outcome of a doubles match in Acapulco? So often, when people are accused of bad acts, the first defense is, I simply don\u2019t have the capacity to do what has been alleged. It\u2019s not in me. It\u2019s not in my nature. I am not a rude\/mendacious\/violent person. Zverev took that card off the table. Again, it proves nothing. But especially given the tenuous context at the time, it was, to me, chilling and, at best, horrible optics.<\/p>\n G) Here\u2019s a GQ piece<\/a> that was published after Zverev\u2019s U.S. Open win. (I was struck by the last paragraph.) Giri Nathan essentially makes this same point here<\/a>. This is a horrible situation for tennis. This is a horrible situation for Zverev. No amount of majors won or declarations of no one can ask me about this again, will make this go away. But had he (then or now) acknowledged the severity of the allegations\u2014I categorically deny the accusations; this is particularly difficult, as I condemn domestic violence in the strongest terms possible and take seriously this unconscionable act and very real issue with no place in civil society\u2014I suspect it would go a long way in the eyes of many fans. (Speaking ahead of the London ATP Finals in 2020, Zverev said:<\/a> \u201cThese accusations are just unfounded and untrue. We had our ups and downs, but the way our relationship is described in the public is not how it was. That\u2019s not who I am, that\u2019s not how I was raised by my parents. That\u2019s not just simply who I am as a person.\u201d) Getting accused of violence by two different women and then ending a prearranged interview<\/a> when the subject is broached? That doesn\u2019t help rehabilitate or reconcile.<\/p>\n H) Social media is not real life. But here\u2019s what happens in real life. The No. 1 seed and winner of a major earlier this summer played a semifinal match\u2014at an event with affordability issues\u2014and ticket prices plummeted to less than the cost of a Honey Deuce. Brands scattered. Tournaments have strenuously avoided promoting a Hall of Fame player. Zverev may or may not give you pause, but it\u2019s disingenuous to suggest that there is no cloud, that this isn\u2019t a challenge for tennis as a whole.\u00a0<\/p>\n I) Again, there are no simple answers. And as Zverev might become No. 1 and has won 20 of his 21 matches at majors, this discomfort is unlikely to ease. It\u2019s unsatisfying. But in the absence of true resolution (thanks, Byzantine German legal system), fans simply have to weigh the facts and circumstances and find their zone of comfort.<\/p>\n Ben Shelton defeated Carlos Alcaraz in an epic U.S. Open quarterfinal match. | REUTERS<\/p>\n Jon, I heard there was an epic tennis match last night! Too bad no one saw it!\u00a0<\/p>\n J.P.<\/p>\n \u2022 There was an epic match in the morning in Spain? (This is in reference to the Alcaraz-Shelton U.S. Open semifinal barn burner.) No, this was such a squandered opportunity. Again, there\u2019s nothing cute or clever about a sporting event ending at 3:33 a.m. local time. The USTA must address this.<\/p>\n Jon, Thanks, Andrew Lachow<\/p>\n \u2022 The number of smaller tournaments in the U.S. is down dramatically from even 2001 (25 years ago), let alone the \u201980s. Some of this is the global spread of tennis, with events moving to countries that claim the best players. (Hey, Boris Becker and Steffi Graf are doing well in Germany? Let\u2019s set up shop.) Some of this is following the money. Some of this is the USTA taking its eye off the ball.<\/p>\n Wow! Super Saturday in \u201984 and now Terrific Tuesday in \u201926!!!<\/p>\n All four matches went the distance and three of those matches went to a match tiebreak.<\/p>\n I realize yesterday\u2019s matches on Arthur Ashe were over two sessions, but is this the first time that each match on Ashe went the distance?<\/p>\n Rod \u2022 Alas, it ended at 3:33 a.m. local time which not only meant few people saw the conclusion, but it complicated the best day narrative.<\/p>\n I saw Ga\u00ebl Monfils and Elina Svitolina arriving to the practice courts to take over from Mirra Andreeva and Andrey Rublev\u2014Svitolina ignored both Russians and walked straight to the bench to drop off her stuff and Monfils greeted Rublev with a big hug and chatted for 30 seconds before joining her. I didn\u2019t notice if he said hello to Andreeva, but I\u2019d assume he knows Rublev far better. Obviously not the same as an on-court handshake, but I thought it was interesting!<\/p>\n Anon<\/p>\n \u2022 Funny, I asked a rep from the Monfils camp about this. The speculation was that he might have been inclined to shake the opponents\u2019 hands, but spousal pressure might have overwhelmed those instincts. Alas, we\u2019ll never know.<\/p>\n Can we all just admit that Aryna Sabalenka is a sore loser?\u00a0<\/p>\n P.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 I know I am likely in the minority here. My buddy, Chanda Rubin, and I argued about this (civilly) on the air the other day. But I can\u2019t get too worked up about Sabalenka in defeat. She lost the final, finishing the year with zero major titles for the first time since 2022. She lost the No. 1 ranking. She lost another three-set final, her fifth. She gave Elena Rybakina an appropriate handshake. Forgive her if she is frustrated.<\/p>\n![\"Ben](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/01m2nvabkqx0462t2gs7.jpg\" "\\"Ben")
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Great coverage of the U.S. Open and especially your \u201c50 Parting Shots\u201d column, which I always look forward to reading.\u00a0 Quick question from a tennis nerd who listens to Served, just finished Matthew Futterman\u2019s book, went to the qualifiers, and bought Week 1 upper deck Arthur Ashe tickets but did not spend a minute in Ashe, preferring to watch up close, i.e., Francisco Cer\u00fandolo vs. Jan-Lennard Struf and Zachary Svajda vs. Arthur G\u00e9a:\u00a0 There are by my count 29 ATP 250 tournaments and 16 ATP 500 tournaments yet only three 250s\u2014Delray, Beach, Houston and Winston-Salem\u2014and two 500s\u2014Dallas and D.C.\u2014are in the United States.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t checked but I suspect the same is true re: the WTA. Why is that? Has this always been the case? I suspect other tennis nerds like me would love to go see such tournaments if they were held here, especially given the prices and crowds at the US Open. <\/p>\n
Toronto Canada\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Aryna](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/01m2nvf8fmw25aaf64wv.jpg\" "\\"Aryna")
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