Tennis fans are calling out the legendary Billie Jean King for supporting Alexander Zverev after he won his first Grand Slam singles title by capturing the French Open crown on Sunday, June 7.
“Congratulations to @AlexZverev on his very first Grand Slam Singles title!” King, 82, wrote via X. “He is also the first man with Type 1 Diabetes to win a major. What a victory for everyone living with this disease.”
Many noted she did not share a similar message for Mirra Andreeva, who won the women’s title, and that her praise of Zverev, 29, came amid multiple domestic abuse allegations.
Zverev has faced two separate accusations since 2020. The first came when ex-girlfriend Olga Sharypova accused the tennis pro of being verbally and physically abusive in an October 2020 article in Racquet magazine. Sharypova did not pursue criminal charges and an ATP investigation did not find sufficient evidence to warrant a punishment.
The second accusation came from Brenda Patea, ex-girlfriend and mother of his daughter, Mayla, 5. Patea claimed that during a May 2020 argument, Zverev pushed her into a wall and began choking her. A judge eventually dropped the charges against him when the two parties reached a settlement out of court.
Zverev has publicly denied all allegations against him.
“They’re not going to drop the case if you’re guilty at the end of the day,” he told reporters during the 2024 French Open. “Done. We move on. I never ever want to hear another question about the subject again. I believe there are no more accusations. There haven’t been for, what, nine months now.”
Despite Zverev maintaining his innocence, fans didn’t let King forget about the accusations.
“He’s also a domestic abuser Billie, frankly, expected more from a feminist and equality warrior like you,” one fan wrote via X.
“You cannot claim yourself to be a women’s rights activist then proceed to congratulate a domestic abuser,” another added.
A third wrote, “He is also the first tennis player with two accusations of domestic violence to win a grand slam. What a victory for the domestic abusers!”
Other fans replied by sending quotes from Sharypova, detailing the alleged abuse.
“He started to say to me these things. ‘I hope you will die, you should have died yesterday, but not in my room. If you want to die, you can take insulin and go die in the street because I don’t want problems, I don’t want to deal with you anymore,’” she recalled in a 2021 interview with Slate. “I’m crying. I say, ‘OK if you want me to die, give me insulin, I go to the street, and that’s all. I can’t hear this anymore. I can’t handle anymore. What do you want from me? You want to punch me? You already did.”
