Serena Williams backed after blunt Alexander Zverev callout
Tennis legend Chris Evert has backed Serena Williams' call on Alexander Zverev and agreed the German's punishment should have been harsher after lashing out at the chair umpire.
The tennis world was in shock after Zverev hit the chair umpire's stand with his racquet four times, breaking it, after losing a doubles match in Acapulco alongside partner Marcelo Melo.
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Upon losing a doubles match in Acapulco, Zverev exchanged a frosty handshake with his opponents before proceeding to smash his racquet against official Alessandro German's chair.
He was later kicked out of the tournament entirely, forfeiting more than $30,000 in prize money, as well paying $40,000 in fines for 'unsportsmanlike conduct'.
The ATP said at the time Zverev was docked $20,000 each for verbal abuse and unsportsmanlike conduct, the maximum on-site penalty for each violation.
However, Zverev was only handed an eight-week ban, which was suspended.
He will be able to play at Indian Wells, which is staring this week.
Tennis icon Williams hit out at the behaviour earlier in the week and said she would "probably be in jail" if she had conducted herself the same way.
Alexander Zverev was recently withdrawn from the Mexican Open after he attacked the umpire's chair with his racket. As a Black athlete and a woman, @serenawilliams tells me there is a double standard. "I would probably be in jail if I did that," she says. pic.twitter.com/sINWIeuBcP
— Christiane Amanpour (@amanpour) March 4, 2022
"There is absolutely a double standard," Williams told CNN in an interview.
"I would probably be in jail if I did that – like, literally, no joke.
"You see that [double standard] when you see other things happening on the tour, like, 'wait – if I had done that?' Hmm,” she added.
"But it is okay. At the end of the day, I am who I am, and I love who I am."
Tennis legend Chris Evert defends Serena Williams
And 18-time grand slam champion Chris Evert said she felt Williams was right in suggesting there is a difference in the way female and male tennis players are treated.
“I wouldn't go as far as saying she would go to jail, but I think she has a point and I think that definitely her consequences would have been far stricter than Zverev’s," Evert told Eurosport.
“Welcome to the world of men and women. I think it is a female and male issue. I agree with Serena.
“There would have been stricter consequences if she would have done it. I think the WTA would have put stricter consequences on any woman who would have done this.
“The umpire looked like he was in harm's way. And that's serious”.
Evert agreed with Williams that the punishment handed to Zverev was "too lenient" and he should be facing an extended period away from the game after his behaviour.
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