Even though Stefanos Tsitsipas had an easy ride into the second round of singles at the Monte Carlo Masters, things got a little heated during his doubles contest. Disagreeing with a decision with the chair umpire, the Greek star told him to go ‘back to the Futures.’
The Australian Open semi-finalist has teamed up with brother Petros in doubles at the Masters event. The unsavoury incident took place during the first set tie-break against eighth seeds Kevin Krawietz and Horia Tecau.
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At 1-1, the chair umpire ruled a shot from Krawietz-Tecau had landed in. The Tsitsipas brothers believed it was out of bounds and approached the umpire. After a discussion, Stefanos Tsitsipas told him to step down and check the mark on clay but the umpire refused.
Tsitsipas, who has had a few run-ins with refs in the past, wasn’t pleased with the umpire’s stand and told him, “You are a disgrace. Go back to the futures; that is where you belong.”
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The 22-year-old received a code violation for his outburst. Tsitsipas demanded to talk to the supervisor after this but his request was quashed and the match resumed.
Stefanos Tsitsipas tells the umpire to 'go back to futures where you belong' which is quite ironic as that is where his brother currently belongs without all these family wildcards https://t.co/UxfhZJSjgU
— Chris Goldsmith (@TheTennisTalker) April 13, 2021
The Greek brothers overcame the distraction to win the set and eventually the match 7-6 (4), 3-6, 11-9.
Meanwhile, Tsitsipas defeated the in-form Aslan Karatsev 6-3, 6-4 in the first round of singles.
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He took advantage of a whopping 32 unforced errors from Karatsev to set up a clash with to progress into the second round, where he will take on the winner of the match between John Millman and Cristian Garin.
“I’m putting [in] hours on the court, trying to become consistent [and] get close to the legends of our sport,” said the Greek youngster.
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“I am working every single day. I am very far from that, but it is definitely a dream of mine that I want to achieve one day.”
