The woman who made global headlines for spotlighting domestic abuse allegations against German tennis star Alexander “Sascha” Zverev at the Australian Open has broken her silence.
On Sunday, Zverev faced off against Italian competitor Jannik Sinner in the men’s finals and suffered a straight-sets loss at Rod Laver Arena.
As the world number two approached the microphone to make his speech at the post-match ceremonies, he was interrupted by shouting from the crowd.
“Australia believes Olga and Brenda!” the female spectator yelled three times before she was booed by the crowd and swiftly escorted out of the premises.
Her remarks referenced prior domestic abuse accusations by Zverev’s former partners Olga Sharypova and Brenda Patea, the latter with whom he shares a child.
Since the weekend, she was met with a mixed bag of reactions, facing a barrage of online criticism for disrupting the event, along with praise for highlighting an important social issue.
Speaking with tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg on his website Bounces on Tuesday, the woman — going by the name Nina for privacy concerns — maintained she is “glad someone said it.”
The protest was not entirely spontaneous, she confirmed, having previously discussed what she could do or say with her sisters. However, she attended the match alone that day.
“I was sitting on his player’s box end of the court,” the self-confessed tennis fan explained.
“All night, people were cheering ‘Sascha! Sascha! Sascha!’ It was gross. He may try to bully people — ATP, journos, whomever — into quashing the story. But I wanted him to know that tennis fans know and we care about those women. And we fucking believe them.”
She told Rothenberg that she picked her location strategically to maximise her impact, heading down to the ‘Melbourne’ sign end near the media seats at match point.
“I wanted to be close enough to you all to hopefully hear me,” she said.
“And I wanted Olya’s and Brenda’s names to be heard in that arena.”
The 30-year-old — who revealed the issue of domestic violence was personal to her and her family — continued that she wanted survivors “to know they’re not forgotten even when their abusers are celebrated on a world stage”.
“I wanted Sascha to sit in his own discomfort, [to know] that we will not forget, even if he wants to brush it aside,” Nina said, per Bounces.
“And as an Eastern European woman who grew up in an abusive environment supported by the power of silence in ‘household matters,’ I wanted my voice to be heard.”
Nationally, Australia is also grappling with a domestic violence crisis, she pointed out, with over 100 women in Australia murdered by their domestic partners in 2024.
In the days since the protest that made headlines around the world, Nina confessed she is not a “vocal protester” and has “never done anything publicly” like this before.
However, she said she’s pleased by the scale of the reaction to her words.
“I’m thrilled that Olya and Brenda’s stories are being recapped by media, and highlighted by other media for the very first time. I’m surprised at the impact,” she told Rothenberg.
Meanwhile, when questioned on Sunday, Zverev dismissed the incident at the Australian Open and once again denied the allegations, per The Age.
“I believe there are no more accusations. There haven’t been for, what, nine months now,” he told reporters in Melbourne.
“Good for her. I think she was the only one in the stadium who believed anything in that moment.
“If that’s the case, good for her. I think I’ve done everything I can, and I’m not about to open that subject again.”
In early 2023, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) concluded a 15-month independent investigation of Zverev’s ex-partner Sharypova’s claims, finding “insufficient evidence to substantiate published allegations of abuse”, per the Guardian.
A case between the 27-year-old tennis star and his other ex-partner Patea was also settled out of court last year with no admission of guilt.
Lead image: Shi Tang/ Getty Images
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