Echoes of a Voice
An interview with the woman who broke the silence around Alexander Zverev at the Australian Open.
MELBOURNE, Australia — The five-word phrase a woman shouted three times from the crowd at Rod Laver Arena on Sunday evening during the trophy ceremony for the Australian Open men’s singles final soon echoed around the world, making headlines from the BBC to The New York Times to The Daily Mail to People to Elle and beyond.
“Australia believes Olya and Brenda! Australia believes Olya and Brenda! Australia believes Olya and Brenda!”
All of those outlets had to provide necessary context around the woman’s refrain, explaining the accusations of abuse that each of Olya Sharypova and Brenda Patea had made against Zverev—as I also did in my first write-up of the protest, which has already become the most-read story so far in Bounces’ existence:
Over the next day, the reverberations from that lone voice were considerable, and polarized.
In an interview Monday with Melbourne radio station 3AW, Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley went as far as to say that the brief disruption at his tournament “ruined” the moment.
“As far as the individuals shouting things during the matches, we've said this before: if anyone comes on site and tries to be disruptive and tries to make a point, they're not welcome,” Tiley said. “We don't want them. They ruin it for everyone else. And similarly that [incident] last night, that incident just—it ruined this for everyone, if someone's going to behave like that. So they can stay away. And if they come and do that, we’ll remove them.”
Tiley then confirmed to host Tony Moclair that the woman had been removed from the tournament, as I first reported here at Bounces.
“Yes, she was removed from the site,” Tiley said. “And rightfully so, because it’s a breach of the positive enjoyment for the rest of the fans.”
But the woman has received plenty of support and admiration, too. On the tennis podcast The Body Serve, which has consistently foregrounded the accusations against Zverev in its discussions of him, host James Rogers reacted to the protest with both astonishment and inspiration.
“I want to emphasize how this sort of thing does not ever happen in this sport—this was utterly shocking to me,” Rogers said. “To happen after a Grand Slam final in this sport where so few of the people who matter have ever even uttered these words, [or] have ever even acknowledged there's something going on…This, for me, was a good reminder that this was just one person who believed in something and had to do something that scared them because they believed in it. We need to make them uncomfortable all the time.”
An Interview With Nina
As I mentioned in my previous report on the incident, as she was being escorted off the grounds by police I had asked the woman to message me, and said she said she would, but I wrote that hadn’t heard from her by the time I published that first story.
That turned out to be my mistake: while I was refreshing my Twitter inbox regularly that night, she had sent a message to my professional Instagram account within a few minutes of being evicted from the tournament; because I had gotten no notification from Instagram and the request was tucked away in some fairly hidden folder, I didn’t spot it until nearly a day later, regrettably.
But on Monday evening in Melbourne, we finally connected.
Meet Nina
Nina—what I’m going to call the woman interviewed in this piece to protect her privacy since she didn’t want her full name used—is an Australian woman in her 30s with an Eastern European background who lives in Melbourne.
“I've been a tennis fan forever,” Nina told me. “Growing up in Australia, summer meant the beach and tennis.”
As a Melburnian, Nina has been a frequent attendee at the Australian Open for years.
“I'm a genuine fan,” she said. “I was at five sessions [this year], I believe, prior to the men’s final.”
“I love this sport,” Nina added. “I don't love its apathy to these important topics.”
After attending and enjoying the women’s final between Madison Keys and Aryna Sabalenka, Nina was torn about whether or not she should attend the men’s final the following day, since it would feature Alexander “Sascha” Zverev.
“Immediately that was tied to: ‘Well, how do I show that I do not support Sascha?’” she said.
Nina told me she had first heard about the initial accusations against Zverev by listening to The Tennis Podcast, which had discussed my interview with Olya Sharypova in Racquet Magazine shortly after it was published in November 2020.
“I’ve been pretty livid ever since that Sascha has been able to go about his business and be celebrated and cheered on world stages,” Nina said. “Part of me has wondered whether that’s because the majority of people truly don't care about victims’ voices and well-being.”
The issue of domestic violence is personal to Nina and her family, she told me.
“I was a massive fan of Jelena Dokic growing up—and still am,” Nina said. “Her father, unfortunately, reminds me strongly of my own. I have read her books and watched her documentary. People lamenting ‘We didn't know, we didn't realize we had to intervene’ has always infuriated me. From my own experience, many people know about DV, even when it’s hushed up. The culture of silence protects men. It protected my father from ever facing any consequences.”
Nina wanted to zoom out beyond the personal to the national, though.
“This country has a DV crisis,” Nina said, sharing a link to an article by SBS which called domestic violence in Australia a “national crisis” that isn’t being sufficiently addressed. “Over 100 women were murdered by domestic partners in 2024.”
Nina’s Plan
Nina said that before going to the Australian Open men’s final, she had discussed what she could do or say with her sisters.
“I wanted their advice on what I should say,” Nina said. “But I don't think they actually thought I intended to disrupt as loudly as I did. I didn't know I was going to be able to do it until it was happening.”
Nina attended the match alone. “I was sitting on his player’s box end of the court” she said. “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.”
To maximize her impact, Nina said she picked her location strategically.
“I decided at match point I’d come down to the ‘Melbourne’ sign end, ‘cause I know where the media seats are—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.”
Nina said she also knew when her moment would be. “I knew all day I was going to do or say something,” she said. “I knew there would be a moment before he spoke that it would quieten.”
When the Rod Laver Arena briefly fell quiet as Zverev approached the microphone, Nina took her opportunity.
“I wanted Brenda and Olya and DV survivors to know they’re not forgotten, even when their abusers are celebrated on a world stage” Nina said. “I wanted Sascha to sit in his own discomfort, [to know] that we will not forget, even if he wants to brush it aside. 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.”
Once she began shouting into the silence, Nina quickly realized she was getting her wish.
“The only thing I viscerally recall was before the last time I called out, I could sense the quiet in the room and I knew for sure I was being heard,” she said. “I saw Sascha looking up in my direction. I told myself: ‘One more time. He can hear you. Show him there's no question of whose names you're calling in support of.’”
After the third time she yelled out “Australia believes Olya and Brenda,” Nina began walking out of the seating bowl, and heard jeers from men in the upper seating bowl.
“So I did do a bow in their direction as I was leaving,” Nina said.
What Happened After Broken Silence
Tournament security intercepted Nina before she could make it out of Rod Laver Arena.
“When the security caught up with me near the doors, they told me to go with them,” she said. “I asked if I was required to stay with them, if I was detained, and they were pretty insistent.”
Tournament security told Nina that they were allowed to detain her, and that she wasn’t free to leave until police arrived.
Nina said the two police officers who came “seemed pretty clueless” about the situation. They said she was required to provide her ID—which she did, along with her contact details. The police then gave her a “Direction to Leave Order” and told her she was barred from the venue for 24 hours, which amused her since the last match of the tournament had just ended.
“I said to the cop, ‘What a shame I’ll be missing tomorrow’s play,’” Nina recalled. “He didn't get it.”
She was escorted to the exit on the Grand Slam Oval side of the Australian Open venue, near Olympic Boulevard.
In the time since she made herself heard, Nina has been processing her own protest.
“I have a lot of support in my circle, thankfully,” she said. “But I'm not a ‘vocal protester’ day-to-day. I’ve never done anything publicly like I did last night, and I wasn’t prepared for the adrenaline rush and comedown. But I am fine.”
Nina said she has been “pretty quiet on social media,” though she has “peeped on r/tennis for a vibe check now and then.”
“I do not participate online, let alone am I outspoken online,” she told me. “I try to keep my socials pretty locked down. People close to me in my life know that I am passionate about certain topics, but I think even they are surprised I had the confidence to raise my voice for Olya and Brenda so publicly.”
Nina said she was pleased by the scale of the reaction to her solitary 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,” she said. “I'm surprised at the impact. This was never about attention for myself. I’m grateful for the friends and family showing me support; they’ve shared with me some positive comments online, and I’m glad to see it. I hope Olya and Brenda experience and witness the same positivity.”
Nina hadn’t seen Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley’s comments about her until I shared them with her.
“Wow,” she said. “My immediate reaction is: Who have I ruined the event for? Australians are known for being vocal at sporting events. I said five words; not one word was offensive. The five words were positive, in their support for victims.”
Nina said she believed there is an “elitism factor” in tennis—and in Australian sporting culture more broadly—that has maintained the silence on the uncomfortable topic of domestic violence, a silence she hopes won’t be allowed to settle over the topic again.
“I hope it happens everywhere,” Nina said of disruptions like hers. “I believe Olya, I believe Brenda, and I sincerely hope that man doesn’t have a moment’s peace. [Or] at the very least, I hope he doesn’t continue to enjoy rapturous applause and support everywhere he plays.”
The last question I had for Nina in our interview: How did she feel when she watched back the clip of her voice and the words “Australia believes Olya and Brenda” reverberating through the silent stadium?
Her reply: “I'm glad someone said it.”
Thank you for reading! This story was left unpaywalled because of the subject matter, but if you appreciate the work I’ve been doing on this topic, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber to Bounces. -Ben
We’re living in a time when we need to show our willingness to fight for the values we believe in. The moment came for Nina, and she delivered. Thanks for continuing to pursue this story.
Nina didn't ruin anything for anyone. The ATP and tournament directors ruin tennis for a lot of us who aren’t comfortable with the platform and promotion they give to Zverev.