Alexander Zverev's domestic abuse trial begins as tennis world No 4 is accused of strangling the mother of his child... while the defence claims ex-girlfriend Brenda Patea is motivated by a 'jetset lifestyle'

Alexander Zverev pushed the mother of his child against a wall and strangled her with both hands, a Berlin court was told.

The world No 4, who plays his third-round match in Paris on Saturday, saw his trial for domestic abuse adjourned on Friday after a request from his lawyers to hold the rest of proceedings behind closed doors.

On October 2 last year Zverev was given a penalty order and fined £392,000 by a German court for bodily harm against his ex-girlfriend Brenda Patea. Zverev denies the allegations and has contested the penalty order, leading to the public trial which began on Friday. The judge will now consider the defence’s request to hold the trial in private, to protect Zverev’s privacy and the welfare of his daughter.

The two sides gave their opening arguments, with the prosecutor saying Patea had difficulty swallowing and suffered throat pain for several days after the alleged abuse during a ‘heated argument’.

The defence sought to portray Patea as being motivated by fame and money, saying: ‘Above all, (her behaviour) was to increase her followers on Instagram and TikTok, and live a jetset lifestyle.’

Zverev’s legal team also claimed the accusations are unfounded, and are copied from allegations of violence made by Olya Sharypova, another ex-girlfriend of Zverev, in 2020 and 2021.

The court will sit for seven further non-consecutive days, with the next set to be Friday, the day of the men’s semi-finals. Zverev is not required to attend the trial. He said before the tournament: ‘I'm not going to lose this procedure. There's absolutely no chance I am.’

Zverev maintains the presumption of innocence until the trial is complete.