By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Friday, June 7, 2024
Photo credit: Corleve/Mark Peterson
Alexander Zverev has reached an out-of-court settlement in the domestic abuse case he was contesting.
Olympic gold-medal champion Zverev has agreed to pay €200,000 in a settlement for the case to be dropped. German media reports €150,000 will go to the German treasury with €50,000 paid to charity with both Zverev and his ex-partner and mother of his child, Brenda Patea, both agreeing to stop the case.
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“There has been a settlement between the defendant and the complainant,” the Berlin’s Tiergarten District Court said in a statement published by BBC. “This settlement is not part of this trial though and the court is not part of this settlement.”
In a statement issued to the media, Zverev’s attorney said “Alexander Zverev remains innocent” of the domestic abuse charges.
“The process against Alexander Zverev was shelved today by the court with the agreement of the prosecutor’s office and Ms. Brenda Patea,” a statement from Zverev’s defense team on Friday announced. “Alexander Zverev agreed to this in order to shorten the process especially in the interest of the child they have together.
“Alexander Zverev remains innocent.”
The settlement came hours before the fourth-ranked Zverev was set to face two-time French Open finalist Casper Ruud for a spot in the Roland Garros final.
Brenda Patea alleged Zverev strangled her during an argument in her Berlin apartment building in May of 2020.
“The defendant, a well-known German professional athlete, must answer for the accusation of intentional bodily harm,” the court said in a statement on the case, which began on May 31st. “In May 2020, he is said to have briefly choked his then partner’s neck with both hands in the stairwell of a Berlin apartment building during an argument. The alleged victim is said to have suffered shortness of breath and considerable pain.”
Last October, a Berlin court issued a penalty order of $475,000 against Zverev over the abuse allegations, which he appealed.
Zverev, who was not required to appear personally in the Berlin court, adamantly denies all abuse accusations.
“I do know what I did, I do know what I didn’t do. That’s, at the end of the day, what’s going to come out, and I have to trust in that,” Zverev told the media at Roland Garros last month.
Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve
