For assault and battery

Zverev trial starts during the French Open

A trial against Olympic tennis champion Alexander Zverev will begin next week in Berlin. Ten trial days are planned from May 31 until July 19, the Tiergarten district court announced on Thursday. 

In October, the court had sentenced the German to a fine of 450,000 euros for assault. Zverev, who will be playing at the French Open in Paris next week, rejects the accusation and has lodged an appeal. The case will therefore now go to trial.

The allegedly injured party is appearing as a co-plaintiff in the proceedings. According to the court, she will be heard as a witness on the first day of the trial. The 27-year-old is accused of physically abusing a woman during an argument in Berlin in May 2020. The professional athlete denies this.

Can be represented
When the court was announced last October, the tennis player's lawyers stated that the allegations on which the penalty order was based had already been refuted by an expert opinion from a Berlin forensic doctor. The proceedings were suffering from "the most serious procedural violations". Zverev will take action against this with "all means", according to a press release from Zverev's lawyers.

The French Open, where the Olympic champion is one of the title favorites, is taking place in Paris at the same time as the start of the trial. Zverev does not have to appear in court in Berlin himself. As it concerns a penalty order, he can be represented by a lawyer, it was said. "His personal appearance was not ordered by the court," a spokeswoman said.