Stefanos Tsitsipas admits that he is benefitting from Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev’s recent success ahead of the Miami Open.

Tsitsipas had a good start to the season himself after reaching the Australian Open final before losing to Novak Djokovic.

However since then Tsitsipas’ form has tailed off as he continues to manage injuries.

The Greek has a lot of work to do to turn his form around ahead of the clay court season after his last set tiebreak defeat to Jordan Thompson in the second round of Indian Wells.

Tsitsipas’ turbulent form comes at a time where his nearest rivals are achieving great success in the tour with Carlos Alcaraz winning Indian Wells last week.

Meanwhile Daniil Medvedev was on a 19 match winning streak before losing the final at Indian Wells to Alcaraz.

Speaking to the media Tsitsipas says he is using Greek philosophy to help him believe that his rivals success will translate to his game, “I’m happy for them,” Tsitsipas told Tennis Infinity.

“I believe in the message of ubuntu [a philosophy that supports collectivism over individualism]…by having others be good, [to] sort of witness greatness of others around me, I am also allowing myself to become better too.

“I believe in that message and I think the fact that they’re doing well is benefitting me too and it’s giving me a clear, better view of how I should approach my game.”

Tsitsipas will be positive that their success will benefit his game at the Miami Open where he is the second seed.

The opening match for Tsitsipas will be fellow one-handed backhander Richard Gasquet with their head-to-head tied at 1-1.

Ahead of the contest Tsitsipas admitted that he is getting closer to being pain free, “Everything is getting better and I’m heading toward the right direction,” Tsitsipas said.

“[I hope] to play pain free and just be able to step out there and show something different than Indian Wells because Indian Wells was a big struggle…I hope I get to play with more of an element of fun on the court and not think too much about my arm.”

The match will take place on Saturday as Tsitsipas looks to build momentum towards his Monte-Carlo title defence.

Tensions between the WTA and Ukrainian tennis continue to rise after the governing body was accused of not responding to a request to hold a meeting.

Earlier this month Leisa Tsurenko said she and her teammates had requested a meeting with the WTA board following a discussion she held with its CEO Steve Simon. The world No.81 said she was told by the official that she shouldn’t get upset if other players on the Tour support Russia’s war against her country as it is only their opinion. It was also alleged that Simon said he expects Russia will be allowed to compete in the Olympics under their ‘principles’ and support given to Ukrainian players on the Tour is under review.

“I was absolutely shocked by what I heard,” Tsurenko told BTU.
“He told me that he himself does not support the war, but if the players from Russia and Belarus support it, then this is only their own opinion, and the opinion of other people should not upset me.
“At the same time, he noted that if this had happened to him and he had been in my place, he would have felt terrible.”

Tsurenko withdrew from her match against Aryna Sabalenka in Indian Wells due to a panic attack which she linked to her meeting with Simon.

Speaking further about the matter at the Miami Open on Thursday, Marta Kostyuk said requests made by players from her country to speak with the WTA have failed to occur. Saying that there has so far been ‘silence’ from the WTA. When asked by journalists about what the players wanted to discuss, Kostyuk was reluctant to go into details.

“Yes, we wanted to have the meeting with the board and we didn’t get one. No reply, nothing, just silence,” AFP quoted her as saying.
“I mean, once we’re in the meeting we can talk about it. Before the meeting, I don’t think it’s a good idea to talk about what we want to talk about there,” she added. 

Kostyuk was knocked out of the Miami Open by 27th seed Anastasia Potapova who prevailed 6-1, 6-3. She refused to shake her hands following their match which is something the 20-year-old has also done when facing other Russian players. Potapova was recently issued with a warning from the WTA for wearing a Spartak Moscow football shirt whilst walking onto the court to play a match.

Although Kostyuk appears to not be entirely satisfied with the action taken to deal with Potapova.

“There are a lot of things that I don’t agree with that WTA is doing. This not going to change anything,” she commented.
“I’ll just get more hate online. Whatever I say, I will get a lot of hate. I don’t know. Warning, whatever. You give her a warning… You can suspend someone, I don’t know. I can’t comment on that really, it’s just funny.”

Both the ATP and WTA have voiced opposition to calls for Russian players to be banned from the Tour. Instead, they are currently allowed to compete under a neutral status. The same applied to players from Belarus whose government is accused of supporting the war. 

One of Germany’s most well-known tennis coaches has been accused of serious misconduct against players who he guided on the Tour during his career. 

A joint investigation conducted by NDR, Sportschau and SZ has spoken to two different individuals who claim that they were mistreated by Dirk Hordorff. Hordorff is an established figure in the world of tennis who is best known for working with former world No.5 Rainer Schuettler for 20 years. He has also previously coached Janko Tipsarevic, Danai Udomchoke, Kristian Pless, Jens Knippschild, Sergiy Stakhovsky and Vasek Pospisil. He is currently the mentor of former junior world No.1 Ricardas Berankis.

One of the players who has publicly accused Hordorff of abuse is former player Maximilian Abel who reached the world’s top 200 before being suspended from the sport following a failed drugs test. He was a promising junior player who reached a ranking high of No.6 in the world. 

“In the beginning, he touched his back and stomach, and then he worked his way down to his buttocks,” said Abel.  “It was very uncomfortable and I thought, what the heck is he doing there?”

Abel also said one time he went to Hordorff’s apartment where he was requested to do naked press-ups. In another incident, the German said as a punishment he was asked by Hordorff to undress and go onto a bed naked in ‘a dog position.’ Hordorff would then strike Abel’s buttocks with his belt.

“I was shocked, felt like shit,” said Abel who alleges that his former trainer was aroused at the same time as hitting him with his belt.

 According to Abel, he was emotionally blackmailed by Hordorff who pledged to train him for free until he reached the top 100. 

These allegations were first flagged up with the German Tennis Federation (DTB) in 2022 when its president, Dietloff von Arnim, received a letter from Abel detailing the allegations. An investigation subsequently concluded that “the allegation of misconduct cannot be proven with certainty.”

Albe’s credibility has been questioned by some due to his criminal history. He is currently in prison for credit card fraud. According to Sportschau, he is described by some as a ‘notorious liar.’

However, another player who is still active on the Tour has also made accusations against Hordorff. World No.89 doubles player Sriram Balaji spent three months at the Hessian State Association tennis facility in 2010 where at the time Hordorff was president.

Balaji, who was 20 at the time, said Hordorff came into his room once a week. He was asked to undress to his underwear and then completely. Balaji said he also stayed one night at Hordorff’s apartment where he was supposed to sleep naked on his sofa. Meanwhile, on the court, he felt that he was being ‘humiliated’ in front of others. 

“He touched me all over my body, just not on my genitals,” said Balaji
“I had the feeling he wanted to treat me like his slave.”

Hordorff is yet to personally comment on the allegations against him but a law firm acting on his behalf has said that they are ‘simply untrue.’ Besides coaching Berankis, he is also the Vice President of the German Tennis Federation for High-Performance Sport. However, his role within the DTB has been put on hold until further notice.