Coach Patrick Mouratoglou says Stefanos Tsitsipas learnt about the toilet break from Novak Djokovic post French Open finals

Coach Patrick Mouratoglou says Stefanos Tsitsipas learnt about the toilet break from Novak Djokovic post French Open finals

Stefanos Tsitsipas and Novak Djokovic

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World No.3 Stefanos Tsitsipas began the 2021 US Open with a stutter in the first round. The Greek tennis player struggled against the former US Open champion Andy Murray and was even on the risk of losing the opening round. However, Tsitsipas did manage to claw back into the match, and eventually got the job done in five sets.

Although the No.3 got through the initial test, he was accused by Murray for taking extended bathroom breaks. The former World No.1 blasted his opponent for unsportsmanlike behavior.

Later, Murray even mocked Tsitsipas in his tweet, when the 23-year-old was playing against Frenchman Adrian Mannarino in the second round. World No.4 Alexander Zverev too got into the bandwagon of blaming the French Open finalist and even questioned whether Tsitsipas receives any coaching from his father, Apostolos via mobile, during the toilet breaks.

Stefanos Tsitsipas
Stefanos Tsitsipas

A few days post the incident, the Greek player’s coach Patrick Mouratoglou came in strong support of his charge and refuted all theories about the cheating and unsportsmanlike behavior.

Interestingly, the French coach declared that his charge took a leaf out of World No.1 Novak Djokovic’s book. Mouratoglou explained that Tsitsipas wanted to experiment with a toilet break at the end of the set, just like the Serb did during their championship match at 2021 Roland Garros.

“When he lost his Roland Garros final he was two sets to love up. Djokovic took a toilet break, came back and then it was a different match. He learned from that,” Mouratoglou opined.

“He didn’t learn that Djokovic broke his rhythm. He found out that Djokovic took time for himself in the locker room and was able to reset and come back different. He learned that, tried it and it worked out for him. That’s why he continues to do it.”

Alcaraz upsets Tsitsipas

Carlos Alcaraz
Carlos Alcaraz

At the end of it all, Tsitsipas did lose in the third round to Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz in five sets. The World No.4 will now been seen taking part in the upcoming ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Indian Wells, California. The competition was postponed earlier in the year, due to alarming Covid-19 pandemic.

Also read: Dominating and Mesmerizing! Emma Raducanu becomes the first qualifier to reach a grand slam final, beats Maria Sakkari