Alexander Zverev DQ'd from Mexican Open After Hitting Umpire's Chair with Racket

The ATP Tour announced Wednesday that Alexander Zverev was removed from the Mexican Open singles draw because of "unsportsmanlike conduct" after a violent outburst following a doubles loss on Tuesday night.

Zverev smashed his racket on the umpire's chair several times and yelled at the umpire, saying he'd "destroyed the whole [expletive] match," per Carlos Rodriguez of the Associated Press.

Video of the incident shows Zverev coming close to hitting the umpire's foot with his racket, and he can clearly be heard swearing multiple times.

Zverev and playing partner Marcelo Melo had suffered a first-round loss to Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara in a super tiebreaker when the incident occurred. He'd previously received a code violation for swearing at the umpire over a disputed call.

Jon Wertheim of Sports Illustrated provided a statement from Zverev after his disqualification:

The 24-year-old German was the singles tournament's No. 2 seed and scored a three-set victory over Jenson Brooksby in the first round. His second-round opponent, Peter Gojowczyk, was given a walkover win to the quarterfinals.

Zverev was the event's defending champion.

In October, the ATP Tour launched an investigation into allegations of domestic abuse brought against Zverev by his former girlfriend, Olya Sharypova.

Slate's Ben Rothenberg detailed Sharypova's allegations in August, including multiple allegations of abuse in 2019 before she cut off contact with him in December of that year.

In November 2020, after Sharypova had made allegations against Zverev to Russian media, he posted on Instagram calling them "unfounded accusations" and "simply not true."

The ATP Tour hasn't provided a timetable to conclude its investigation.

Zverev, the No. 3-ranked player in the world, has not faced any criminal charges over the allegations.