“This has to stop!” Fans lash out at Stefanos Tsitsipas over on-court coaching controversy at the Monte-Carlo Masters
Follow Us
Fabio Fognini and Stefanos Tsitsipas
Stefanos Tsitsipas made a winning start to his title defense at the 2022 Monte-Carlo Masters after he defeated Fabio Fognini in the second round. The Greek was dominant throughout the match and completely outplayed Fognini to win 6-3, 6-0.
However, his win was marred by an incident during the match. The Italian accused Tsitsipas of receiving on-court coaching from his team. During the match, Tsitsipas was constantly seen conversing with his father on multiple occasions. Fognini was visibly annoyed over it and gave a cold handshake to Tsitsipas after the match. He took to Instagram to share his displeasure over it saying ‘Coaching or not coaching, that’s a big problem!”
This isn’t the first time either that Tsitsipas was accused of receiving on-court coaching. At the 2022 Australian Open, the 23-year-old received multiple code violations for receiving illegal coaching from his father, who is also his coach, Apostolos. During his semi-finals clash in Melbourne against Daniil Medvedev, the Russian had a heated exchange with the umpire for not interfering when Tsitsipas was clearly receiving instructions from his father during the match.
This prompted a tournament referee to monitor Tsitsipas’ player box in a so-called ‘sting operation’. Tsitsipas was caught in the act and this time officials had video evidence to back it up. He received a warning from the umpire subsequent to that.
The multiple code violations he received recently, clearly weren’t enough, as Tsitsipas is still involved in the same antics, clearly seen in his match against Fognini. While Tsitsipas has long proclaimed his approval for introducing on-court coaching, it is still an illegal move as of now.
Fans react to the Stefanos Tsitsipas- Fabio Fognini incident
Fans had a mixed reaction to the incident as some said Fognini’s behavior was unsportsmanlike while others said Tsitsipas should be penalized over the illegal move. But most of the criticism was on Tsitsipas’ father and some said this is not the first time either and they are yet to face any repercussions over it.
Stay Updated!
T Rushitha
(360 Articles Published)