“No other player knows how to break a racket the way Roger does”- Stefanos Tsitsipas’ hilarious response to the “GOAT of Destruction”
Follow Us
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Roger Federer
Stefanos Tsitsipas has always expressed his admiration for his idol Roger Federer, but this time he claimed the Swiss maestro was the GOAT of a rather bizarre distinction.
The World No.3 is currently competing at the Open 13 Provence and was engaged in a fun Q&A session with We Are Tennis. But he had an unexpected and uncanny answer in hand for “Who is the GOAT of racket destruction?” and joked it was Roger Federer.
“The most beautiful person that smashes a racket, and he hasn’t done a lot in his career, but in terms of finesse when he does it, is Roger Federer. No other player knows how to break a racket the way roger does. Miami against Djokovic, I think. That’s a clean hit, that’s a clean racket smash. And the throw at the end with the wrist to the bench, that’s the way to top off the smash. Like a cherry on the cake.”
Roger Federer is known for his calm demeanor on-court and rarely loses his composure during a match, let alone a racket smash. But a rare occasion the Swiss maestro lost his cool during his semi-final defeat to Novak Djokovic in the 2009 Miami Masters. The Swiss won the first set, but Djokovic rallied back to win the second set comfortably before racing to a 3-0 lead in the final set. Federer was down 30-0 in the third game and unleashed a routine forehand into the net and that was the tipping point for Federer as he hurled his racket to the ground, smashing it and this act drew jeers from the crowd. Federer then went on to lose the match 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.
But Tsitsipas saw the humorous side of it and remarked Federer’s smash was a work of finesse and even reckoned no other player can smash a racket as well as Federer.
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Federer have squared off against each other 4 times so far
The Greek youngster has clashed heads with Federer 4 times in the past and their head-to-head stand even at 2-2. Tsitsipas is a long-time fan of Federer and has even said the 20-time Grand slam champion is his idol and he would like to have a career like the former World No.1.
While they might have played against each other a couple of times before, they also played alongside each other as doubles pairing in the Laver Cup in 2019. They played the men’s doubles tie for Team Europe against Team World but lost to John Isner and Jack Sock in a closely-fought 3 set match.
Also read: ‘Good News!’ Italian Sports Minister makes an Important Statement favoring Novak Djokovic
Stay Updated!
T Rushitha
(360 Articles Published)