Stefanos Tsitsipas angrily hit out at his opponent’s use of the underarm serve after he blew a match point during a humbling US Open exit.
Daniel Altmaier deployed the legal but rarely used tactic at least twice as he rallied in the fourth set against the former world No 3. Tsitsipas let Altmaier know he did not approve as the pair shook hands at the end of a contest that lasted four hours and 26 minutes.
Advertisement
During tense scenes, Tsitsipas implied to Altmaier he had been deliberately targeting his body during the contest as he felt he was being disrespected. The out-of-form Greek said: “Next time, don’t wonder why I hit you, OK? No, I’m just saying if you serve underarm … if you serve underarm.”
The crowd booed as the German world No 56 backed away with his hand raised refusing to engage in the discussion. The 7-6 (5), 1-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 defeat means Tsitsipas will end the season without playing in the third round of a grand slam for the first time since 2017.
In response, Altmaier told Sky Sports: “Tomorrow Stefanos will regret his words. In football, fists fly or people get into arguments.
Advertisement
“In tennis, you say something that might not be appropriate. That’s part of the sport. A lot of money and self-confidence are at stake. When you’re playing tennis until midnight, you can sometimes say something you don’t really mean. Or maybe he does.”
Tsitsipas has not won back-to-back matches since the Barcelona Open in April and has sunk to 28th in the world rankings. The 27-year-old, a former finalist at the Australian and French Opens, parted ways with his coach Goran Ivanisevic and brought his father Apostolos back on board last month.
Efforts to stem a worrying decline in his game have yet to pay off. Tsitsipas’s coaching team were also warned for coaching him during the match after Apostolos was seen shouting instructions to him.
That marked the first time a warning has been given to a player on court since the International Tennis Federation (ITF) permitted it in matches earlier this year. ITF’s Rule 30 allows “brief, discreet verbal advice or hand signals from a coach, but only during breaks or permitted times, not during a point”.
Advertisement
This year’s US Open has been hit by a ‘racism’ row involving Jelena Ostapenko and Taylor Townsend, while Daniil Medvedev produced a spectacular meltdown after crashing out to France’s Benjamin Bonzi in a match during which a photographer came on court by mistake.
Source link
