Tennis Star Sues Journalist Over Domestic Violence Reporting

It’s a nightmare for any journalist: doing your job, breaking a huge story — and then facing a lawsuit over the revelations your work has turned up. In the case of Ben Rothenberg, that involves reporting on allegations of domestic violence made against Alexander Zverev, recently seen in the quarter-finals of this year’s U.S. Open.

Rothenberg first reported on the allegations in articles written for Raquet and Slate; earlier this year, he returned to the latter publication to publish a broader critique of the Association of Tennis Professionals. “Alexander Zverev, who’s been accused of domestic abuse by two ex-girlfriends and found liable by a criminal court in one of those cases, hasn’t been sanctioned by the tennis world at all,” Rothenberg wrote, contrasting the ATP’s handling of Zverev with the way other prominent sports associations have responded to similar accusations.

As The Washington Post‘s Laura Wagner reported, Zverev filed a lawsuit against Rothenberg and the publications that published his reporting — and did so in Germany, where the defamation laws are especially harsh. Wagner also notes that Racquet had been supportive of Rothenberg’s case until earlier this year, when Rothenberg wrote an article for Second Serve, a new publication from one of Racquet‘s co-founders.

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The Post reports that Rotheberg’s case will next be heard by a court of appeal in Germany later this year. For now, Wagner writes, Rothenberg “has increasingly found it difficult to get credentials to the Grand Slams or access to players.” That’s despite the fact that Rothenberg’s biography of Naomi Osaka was published earlier this year to enthusiastic reviews. It’s an alarming state of affairs for a prominent reporter in the sport.