Greek tennis champion Stefanos Tsitsipas shocked the tennis world by hurtling abuse against his father and coach during the game against Japan’s Kei Nishikori at the Canadian Open tournament in Montreal on Thursday.
An angry Tsitsipas, who eventually lost the match in two sets, shouted obscenities at Apostolos Tsitsipas and demanded that he “immediately leave.” His father obliged and left his seat.
For his outburst, he was penalized by the umpire.
After the match, Tsitsipas admitted the confrontation. “I’ve already been complaining to my coach about it [not being able to perform with his forehand] for the last four or five days,” Tsitsipas said. “That was also the reason why I had a confrontation with him during the match, I’m not used to it.”
He added: “I believe the least I deserve is a coach that listens to me and hears my feedback as a player. I feel my father has not been very smart in handling such situations…It was a poor performance by him and it’s not the first time he has done that.”
Replying to a question whether he is considering replacing his father, Tsitsipas replied: “I really don’t know right now but I am really disappointed.”
The statement is after 2’36” in the following video:
Times Tsitsipas fell out with his father
It is not the first time that Tsitsipas, ranked 11th in the world, fell out publicly with his dad during games. In 2020, he caught his father with his racket during an outburst at the ATP Cup during his match with Nick Kyrgios.
The Greek smashed his racket in anger after losing an opening-set tiebreak, and his swing caught Apostolos Tsitsipas, who was seated next to his son’s chair as captain of the team.
Tsitsipas has been ranked as high as world No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved on 9 August 2021, making him the highest-ranked Greek player in history alongside Maria Sakkari. However, since then, his career seems to have taken on a downward spiral.
Some commentators say that his relationship with his da has become toxic affecting his focus and performance on court.
Born into a tennis family – his mother Julia was a professional on the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) tour and his father Apostolos trained as a tennis coach – Tsitsipas was introduced to the sport at age three and began taking lessons at age six.
As a junior, he was ranked No. 1 in the world, and won the 2016 Wimbledon boys’ doubles event.
