Written by by Staff Writer, CNN London
Just days after tennis star Nick Kyrgios was ordered to serve three months in a drug rehabilitation center, a third top player is facing serious allegations of domestic abuse.
Alexander Zverev, 19, is being investigated by the ATP for alleged attacks on his ex-girlfriend Lina Sandberg, a professional volleyball player for Poland.
The No. 11 seed from Germany tested positive for cannabis at the 2017 Monte Carlo Masters tournament, the ATP said Tuesday.
While a result was never recorded, Zverev said that “certain substances” found in his system had been tainted during last year’s Australian Open.
The doping revelations have again drawn attention to Zverev’s alleged domestic abuse claims, which were surfaced in a cover story for the website Mainichi last year.
The 19-year-old told the magazine that he ran into problems with Sandberg, who is two years older than him, while playing basketball.
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However, the athlete’s former partner denied the allegations at the time, calling them “absolutely ridiculous and ridiculous lies.”
Alexander Zverev after he won his quarterfinal match at Monte Carlo last year. Credit: PATRICK KOVARIK/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Before his doping news, Zverev was in line to win his first ATP tour title in Rotterdam this week.
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Just days earlier, Tennis Australia suspended 24-year-old Kyrgios after the “Dancing with the Stars” contestant tested positive for cocaine, which he blamed on a joint taken before a match against Richard Gasquet.
Kyrgios, who underwent anger management sessions with sports psychologist Paul Michael Clark and spoke with advice from former world No. 1 Margaret Court, is scheduled to serve his ban on August 23, at which point he will be eligible to play again.
Kyrgios has apologized for the incident and expressed shock at the positive test.
Australian Tennis Commissioner Todd Woodbridge has already distanced the sport from Kyrgios’s off-court behavior.
“His behavior goes completely against what the sport stands for,” Woodbridge told Australian newspaper The Age.
Kyrgios’s bad boy reputation has exploded over the past two years, leading to him being accused of racism, sexism and homophobia in various tabloids and social media platforms.
Kyrgios fought back last year with a string of unorthodox high-profile wins but he has fallen off the WTA circuit this year.
On Tuesday, he expressed his commitment to trying to earn the affection of the women around him on Twitter: