#Alexander Zverev’s ex says she tried to commit suicide after abuse

The 2019 U.S. Open was not the only time tennis star Alexander Zverev allegedly abused his then-girlfriend, according to a new account of their relationship history.

Olya Sharypova, who first revealed the domestic abuse allegations last week in an Instagram post — including Zverev trying to strangle her with a pillow and hitting her head against a wall — has since claimed the world No. 7 tennis player also later punched her in a hotel room in Geneva. It got to a point where Sharypova injected herself with insulin in a suicide attempt, she told Racquet Magazine.

“We had another fight, and in that fight he punched me in the face for the first time,” Sharypova told the magazine in a story that includes more allegations. “In other fights he was pushing me, shoving me, twisting my arms, choking me. But this was the first time he punched me, really punched me. When he left the room, I…

“It’s really hard to talk about this, because it really was a hell. I’m going to start talking about this, and I want to finish. I want to say this and then forget about this. After this fight he left the room, and I was dying. I was emotionally dying. I didn’t understand everything in my life. I couldn’t understand why I was dealing with this, and why he’s not leaving me, why this keeps happening. I understand that I can’t live like this anymore. I understand that I can’t be with this person anymore, but he can’t leave me. I knew he wouldn’t let me go.”

Sharypova said she went on to inject herself with insulin, though she later took what she believed to be glucose tablets that saved her life.

Before her sit down interview for the Racquet Magazine story, Sharypova also showed the author a screenshot of a text message in which she had sent a friend pictures of her bruised face and arms, according to the story.

Zverev has repeatedly denied the domestic abuse allegations, releasing a statement on his social media accounts last week and doubling down on it Thursday after his match at the Paris Masters tournament.

“I have said everything on my Instagram. There is nothing else I can add right now. I’m here to play tennis. I mean, the relationship, as I said, has been over for a very long time,” Zverev told reporters. “I’m enjoying my time on court. I have said everything. They (the allegations) are not true, and there is nothing more I can say right now.”

The allegations were first revealed on Sharypova’s Instagram account and she later confirmed they were about Zverev in an interview with a Russian website.

Zverev, the German who reached the fourth round of last year’s U.S. Open. and lost in this year’s final to Dominic Thiem, said in his statement last week that Sharypova’s allegations “make me very sad.”

“I very much regret that she makes such statements. Because the accusations are simply not true,” Zverev wrote. “We had a relationship, but it ended a long time ago. Why Olya is making these accusations now, I just don’t know. I really hope that the two of us will find a way to deal with each other again in a reasonable and respectful way.”