Alexander Zverev accused of ‘cheating’ Alex de Minaur amid ‘awful’ Coco Gauff drama at French Open
Gauff was reduced to tears as video emerged of Zverev’s dodgy actions against de Minaur.
Extraordinary vision has emerged of the moment Alexander Zverev seemingly lied about what he called during the coin toss before his match against Alex de Minaur at the French Open. De Minaur bowed out in a straight-sets loss to Zverev in the quarter-finals – which marked his best result at grand slam level.
But controversy has since erupted over Zverev’s actions before the match even got underway. Eagle-eyed (and eared) fans noticed Zverev appeared to hoodwink the umpire into thinking he’d won the coin toss – when in fact he hadn’t.
Video is doing the rounds on social media that shows Zverev calling ‘ball’ when given the choice between ‘ball’ and ‘racquet’ when a young girl flips the coin. The coin landed on the ‘racquet’ side, and the umpire initially asks de Minaur if he would like to serve or receive first.
But in bizarre scenes, Zverev interjects and claims he called ‘racquet’ when he actually called ‘ball’. After some confusion the umpire takes the German’s word and Zverev chooses to receive first. De Minaur didn’t appear particularly perturbed, shaking his head and laughing off the incident.
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And while the strange moment wouldn’t have had any bearing on the outcome of the match, fans were left questioning why Zverev would seemingly lie. The World No.4 was accused of ‘cheating’ and ‘poor sportsmanship’, however some suggested he might have been so focused on the match that he couldn’t remember what he called or legitimately thought he said ‘racquet’.
Zverev will face Casper Ruud in the semi-finals after ending the dream run of de Minaur. The Aussie star had become the first Australian man to reach the quarters at Roland Garros since Lleyton Hewitt in 2004, but he couldn’t get past Zverev.
