German tennis player Alexander Zverev dismissed the 450,000 euro fine ($A750,000) handed to him for allegedly assaulting a woman in May 2020 as “bulls**t” on Wednesday.
The former world number two is contesting the huge fine, which was issued on October 2, and has “lodged an objection”, a spokeswoman for the Berlin courts said in a statement.
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Zverev has been “accused of physically abusing a woman and damaging her health during an argument” in the German capital over three years ago, the spokeswoman said, adding that until a final ruling is made, Zverev is considered to be innocent.
While his lawyers slammed the decision earlier in the week, the German World No. 9 has lashed out himself at the Paris Masters.
“I think it’s complete bulls**t,” he said after his second-round victory in the Paris Masters.
“Anybody that has semi-standard IQ levels knows what this is all about.”
Zverev has since been knocked out of the tournament in a straight sets loss to Stephanos Tsitsipas.
The Tiergarten district court will now “hear from those involved in the proceedings again”, before likely scheduling a hearing.
The alleged victim had joined the proceedings as a co-complainant, the spokeswoman indicated.
Zverev’s lawyers rejected the accusations in a statement, naming the woman as Brenda Patea, the tennis player’s ex-girlfriend.
The allegations made by Patea “which alone form the basis for the penalty order, have already been refuted by a forensic medical report”, the lawyers said.
The model in 2021 gave birth to a daughter Mayla. She said Zverev is the father of the child. The pair had already split when Patea announced she was 20 weeks pregnant.
They dated for less than 12 months.
Patea confirmed in an Instagram post in July that she had applied for a penalty order against Zverev.
The ATP Tour in January closed an investigation into allegations of domestic abuse against Zverev involving a female tennis player after finding insufficient evidence.
The ATP had opened the probe into Zverev in October 2021 following allegations made by his former girlfriend, Olya Sharypova.
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