It’s been a dramatic US Open so far, and not just because of the tennis on display. Daniil Medvedev was heavily fined for his behaviour during his first-round defeat, while Jelena Ostapenko sparked backlash when she confronted Taylor Townsend at the end of their match and accused the American of having “no class” and “no education”.
And Stefanos Tsitsipas became the latest player to square up to one of his rivals as he suffered a crushing five-set defeat to Daniel Altmaier in the second round, squandering a match point.
The No. 26 seed wasn’t happy with Altmaier for throwing in an underarm serve during the fourth set, and aired his grievances when they approached one another at the net for the handshake.
“Next time, don’t wonder why I hit you, ok?” Tsitsipas said, having previously aimed a forehand towards Altmaier’s body when he approached the net.
Altmaier ignored his comments and continued walking towards the umpire, so the former world No. 3 added: “I’m just saying, if you serve underarm… if you serve underarm.”
The German still didn’t respond, but he spoke out on the incident after the match. “I know that sometimes in the heat of the moment, you can say stuff which you don’t normally would like to say,” he told Bounces.
“You regret afterwards. So I think that we all know these discussions at the net; I’m not a fan of it. Even if I would have lost, I would not enter discussions because it’s just like the heat of the moment.
“You need to cool down; let’s see if he reacts to it or he sticks to his opinion. Which is for me, it’s fine. Like, I think I know what I did, and that’s it. It’s part of the game.”
Altmaier will now focus on his next match, as he takes on No. 8 seed Alex de Minaur in the third round on Saturday.
As for Tsitsipas, it will be back to the drawing board in what’s been a disappointing summer for the Greek star. He has not won back-to-back matches since the Barcelona Open back in April.
A two-time Grand Slam finalist, Tsitsipas has also failed to make it beyond the second round of the last six Major tournaments.
The 27-year-old recently rehired his father, Apostolos, as his main coach. And there will be work to do heading into the upcoming Asian swing.
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