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Alexander Zverev is set to stand trial for alleged assault in late May, German public state-owned international broadcaster Deutsche Welle is reporting.
In July, it was reported that Zverev was facing new assault allegations, this time by the mother of his child, Brenda Patea. In October, Zverev had a penalty order issued against him by a Berlin court and was ordered to pay €450k.
In Germany, penalty orders are used to resolve some criminal cases without a trial. However, since Zverev didn't accept the ruling, he opted to contest the court's decision and go on a trial.
"The main hearing in the case will begin in May 2024. We will announce the details in due course," Lisa Jani, a spokesperson for the court, said in a written statement to DW.
Zverev's trial will take place during the French Open
Hours after Deutsche-Welle's report, German news agency dpa reported that the trial will start on May 31st, when the French Open will be ongoing. However, the report noted that Zverev won't face any difficulties in that regard since he will be allowed to be represented by a lawyer and won't have to appear in person.
After Patea initially made the allegations against Zverev, the top-ranked German tennis player strongly denied he was guilty of those accusations.
“I completely reject the allegations. My lawyers are taking care of the matter. I won’t say anything more about it," Zverev said when asked about the allegations in June.
Meanwhile, world No. 6 Zverev is currently in Australia, where he is preparing to kick off his Australian Open campaign. On Tuesday, Zverev will be starting his campaign at Melbourne Park by taking on fellow German Dominik Koepfer.
Zverev, who will be turning 27 in April, is hoping for a deep Australian Open run as he hasn't given up on his dream of becoming a Grand Slam champion. It remains to be seen how far can Zverev go in Melbourne.