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Andy Murray enjoys a cordial relationship with most inside the locker room but admits there is little warmth between him and Alex Zverev.
So when they meet tonight in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open there will be an underlying froideur which extends beyond a desperation to repair his lowly ranking.
Zverev has been the subject of domestic abuse allegations. While Murray has not commented specifically on those, he has vocally supported moves by the ATP Tour to investigate the matter and bring in a more rigorous policy on the issue.
Andy Murray (above) admits there is little warmth between him and rival Alex Zverev
‘I wouldn’t say we are best friends. We don’t really chat a whole lot,’ said the 34-year-old Scot, who late on Sunday successfully battled US Open quarter-finalist Carlos Alcaraz for three hours in the desert heat.
The issue of domestic violence has become a thorny one in the past year for the ATP Tour, with allegations emerging against Zverev and Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili by their partners — which both players strongly deny.
In the case of Zverev, a story in American online publication Slate suggested that he had repeatedly hit his one-time girlfriend, a Russian called Olya Sharypova, over a period when she was travelling with him on the circuit.
With tennis administrators moving at their usual glacial pace, the ATP only recently instituted an independent inquiry when fresh allegations from Sharypova appeared this summer.
The 34-year-old Scot battled past US Open quarter-finalist Carlos Alcaraz in the desert heat
Murray has criticised the delay in action but has backed measures being brought in. One problem for the tour is that it moves across so many territories and jurisdictions that it is more complex to bring in policies than for, say, basketball’s NBA or American Football’s NFL. Sharypova herself has declined to press charges.
It should be said that Zverev has welcomed the independent investigation, and he has previously commented: ‘I’ve been asking them myself for months now. Because it’s very hard for me to clear my name and only with something like this can I completely do it.’
The furore, which was first reported late last year, has certainly not affected him on the court. He has had an outstanding season whose highlights have included the Olympic gold medal and two Grand Slam semi-finals.
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