— TSN Tennis (@TSNTennis) January 23, 2022
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TSN has the international broadcast feed from commentators for the Shapovalov/Zverev Australian Open: Josh Eagle, Colin Fleming, one of whom seemed quite thrilled with Zverev's temper tantrum: smashing his racquet on the court.
"The racquet is gone from Zverev in a big way. And there is definitely an upset brewing now.
Look at the aggression in that racquet break. Ya gotta give him a 10/10 for that, 'cause that is right up there with one of the best I've ever seen. He goes at it again. So good. Maybe that's just what you need, that release of anxiety.
Maybe he put a hole in the court. Some running repairs here.
You would never encourage a young player or any player to break a racquet, but that's what Zverev needed. That doesn't worry me, and it wouldn't disappoint me if as a coach I saw that happen. He needs some inspiration from somewhere."
It's not the first time he has done this, either. Zverev and Osaka both did it in 2019:
Smashing racquets has become all the rage at Australian Open
This time, and in 2019, Zverev went on to lose the game, so it didn't do him any good. Thousands of dollars in a fine. While everyone is angry and upset with COVID–19, this German is priviledged. He is 24 years old, gross earnings top $30 million USD.
Many of us are stressed, anxious, and are in horrible situations. People are losing work, housing, going to food banks, and this 20-something has his behaviour lauded by these announcers.
We're watching tennis to escape the news; the anger, the antivaxxers, the Russia/Ukraine conflict, horrific weather events, and this really is disturbing.
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I posted the comments on Twitter, and @bjwshepherd sent me to an article on Slate.com, in which they write about the abuse Zverev has been accued of by his ex-girlfriend in the year they were dating:
