Stefanos Tsitsipas was once again in the eye of an illegal coaching controversy on Friday.
The Greek was given a code violation for on-court coaching in the fourth set during his 6-7 (5), 6-4, 4-6, 1-6 loss to Daniil Medvedev in the semifinal of the Australian Open.
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“I’m used to it,” said Tsitsipas, whose father Apostolos Tsitsipas has been regularly seen talking during matches.
“They’ve been targeting me already a long time. 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.
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“I feel I have been a victim of that for a long time now.”
Medvedev had an altercation with the umpire in the second set. The Russian accused Tsitsipas’ father of trying to pass on instructions to his son.
A fuming Medvedev demanded the chair umpire do something about it.
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Later in the match, the tournament referee along with Greek-speaking umpire Eva Azderaki-Moore were seen sitting below Tsitsipas’ player box. They signaled to the chair umpire immediately after catching Apostolos coaching from the stands.
This is wild – Eva Azderaki-Moore, hidden in the tunnel, signalling to give the coaching violation. https://t.co/yrzQk7FFnD
— The Tennis Podcast (@TennisPodcast) January 28, 2022
The Greek player, however, insisted that he always prefers finding solutions on the court himself instead of listening to his coach’s advice.
“I mean, what can I say?” he asked.
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“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.
“Last thing I want is someone giving me tips and giving me advice on what I should do.
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“I’m pretty sure I’m going to keep receiving coaching violations, even though I will never listen to any single thing he says.
“But it’s fine, they can do that if they want, if they believe it’s right.”
