‘I’m a victim’ – Stefanos Tsitsipas feels ‘targeted’ by continual coaching violations
Stefanos Tsitsipas feels he is being unfairly treated with regards to the near everyday occurrence of him receiving coaching violations, something that again reared its head in his Australian Open semi-final.
While Tsitsipas took on Daniil Medvedev for a place in the Australian Open final, Medvedev went on a tirade against the chair umpire, angry that Tsitsipas’ father Apostolos, who is also his coach, was constantly talking during the match, and possibly coaching his son.
“His father can talk every point!?” The Russian said after he was given a code violation for an obscene gesture to the crowd near the end of the second set.
“Bro, are you stupid!?” Medvedev added.
Later in the match, Tsitsipas did receive a code violation for coaching, the Greek smirking in response to the call.
Tsitsipas went on to lose the match while Medvedev reached his fourth Slam final and second at the Australian Open.
In his press conference, Tsitsipas addressed the controversy, feeling that umpire do not understand the situation.
“They’ve been targeting me already a long time,” he said.
“I feel like I’ve gotten a few in the past and the umpires are always paying attention to my box never paying attention to the opponent’s box.
“I feel I have been a victim of that for a long time now.
“The referees, I don’t think they will ever understand that I cannot hear anything when I’m playing because I’m trying to find solutions and try and read the game and recreate the game in my mind before the point starts.
“The last thing I want is someone giving me tips and giving me advice on what I should do.”
Speaking on Eurosport, former top WTA pro turned analyst Barbara Schett explained that the coaching violation came after tournament referee Wayne McEwan and Greek umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore stationed themselves below Tsitsipas’ player box to investigate whether Apostolos was in fact coaching Stefanos.
After translating from Greek, Asderaki-Moore then relayed a message to chair umpire Jaume Campistol via radio, at which point he issued the code violation.
Accusations of coaching from umpires, fellow players and commentators has followed Tsitsipas for some time now, always stemming from his father talking too much for the liking of many.
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