Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 16, 2024 Germany's Alexander Zverev reacts after winning his first round match against Germany's Dominik Koepfer REUTERS/Tracey Nearmy
MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Alexander Zverev said at the Australian Open on Tuesday that he saw no reason to stand down from the ATP Players' Council ahead of his court case in Germany on physical abuse charges.
Zverev, who rejects the allegations, is due to appear before a Berlin court on May 31 on charges of abusing his former girlfriend, a court spokesperson told German media.
The hearing in May comes after the tennis player appealed against the penalty order and fine of 450,000 euros ($489,780) imposed on him in October by the Berlin district court.
He had been ordered to pay the fine for physically abusing the mother of his child, the German tennis player's lawyers said at the time.
"Why would it not be?" he said at Melbourne Park when asked whether it was appropriate that he continued on the council, an elected body which acts as the voice of the players in decisions about the men's professional tennis tour.
Zverev said he believed he retained the confidence of his fellow players.
"Nobody has said anything to me. I don't have a reason not to believe that," he said.
The former world number two has repeatedly rejected the claims by his former girlfriend Brenda Patea that she was a victim of bodily harm during an argument in 2020, his lawyers have said.
The pair had a daughter in 2021, though by that time they were no longer together.
Zverev flatly rejected the idea that there was a body of opinion that he should not be playing professional tennis at all pending the court case.
"Journalists are saying that, some, who are actually interested more in this story to write about and more about the clicks than the actual truth," he said.
The 26-year-old beat compatriot Dominik Koepfer 4-6 6-3 7-6 (3) 6-3 in the first round of the Australian Open on Tuesday.
($1 = 0.9188 euros)
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney and Karolos Grohmann, editing by Christian Radnedge)
