ATP will have to do something' in event of Alexander Zverev guilty verdict admits compatriot Yannick Hanfmann

The decision either way, when it comes to Alexander Zverev, will have to be respected admits Yannick Hanfmann. Who refused to be drawn on whether he was innocent, or guilty, amid his upcoming trial during Roland Garros for domestic abuse.

Zverev is set to stand trial in May over domestic abuse allegations surrounding Brenda Patea. She is the mother of his child and ex-girlfriend. Hanfmann, who said he is friends with Zverev, said that he is not defending him but is keeping a very passive view. If he is innocent, people should move on and if he's not guilty the ATP will need to take action.

“He has a trial in May. And I think that once he gets through that trial, whatever verdict may come out, I think that we have to respect that one. That’s a normal procedure… to wait if he’s guilty or not guilty,” said Hanfmann to Clay Magazine. “I don’t know any of the subject matter. I know what he’s accused of, but I don’t know if he’s guilty or not. So let’s hopefully make them figure it out. And then if he’s innocent, we don’t have to talk about it anymore and we move on. “If he’s guilty, we’ll probably have to remove him from the Council. And the ATP will have to do something."

“I thought it was a little bit unfair to speak about it so much in Australia because he has a trial upcoming, not ongoing right now. To make that distinction I think is important. And let’s see what happens in May, June.” He added: “It’s such a tough topic. Maybe the ATP can develop an independent area to take care of this kind of thing because we’ve had some issues with some players."

“But I trust in ATP, I trust that they do their good research of all these matters. And that they figure it out, that we don’t have these issues anymore in tennis. Because it’s a bad light for us. “I don’t like it, of course, but let’s hope that whatever is happening with Sascha is nothing. I don’t like to hear about these things, of course. I hope that we players are good guys.”