Fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas was in top form during his first round win at the Australian Open but the talking point was what he said on the court afterwards.
The world No.6 stormed to a 6-1, 6-2, 6-1, win over French veteran Gilles Simon in just over 90 minutes on the Rod Laver Arena. Producing a total of 25 winners as he broke seven times en route to the victory. Following the match Tsitsipas encountered a much tougher opponent – the Melbourne crowd.
Speaking to Jim Courier during his on-court interview, the awkwardness started almost instantly when the 22-year-old spoke openly about his latest win. When asked if he was surprised by the scoreline Tsitsipas initially replied ‘I don’t know’ before making a comment that triggered some booing from the stands.
“I wasn’t expecting it (the win) to come so easy. It was a great match from my side,” he said before swiftly pausing his swift following the crowd reaction.
“I mean, let’s be honest……..oh my god I feel like I messed this up already.”
Trying to call down the mixed reaction, the 22-year-old continued to speak about his latest performance but his choice of phrase didn’t do him any favours.
“I think I played a great, spectacular match from the beginning to the end,” he said.
“I don’t know what his tactic was.”
Making another effort to diffuse the situation Tsitsipas joked ‘I didn’t expect to play on Rod Laver with everybody laughing at me.’ The tennis star probably didn’t feel any better when interviewer Courier commented ‘you’re looking really comfortable except in this interview.’ Prompting a bemused look from the former Melbourne semi-finalist.
Next up for Tsitsipas is a clash with Thanassi Kokkinakis who defeated South Korea’s Kwon Soon-woo in his opening match. In front of an already animated crowd, Courier decided to ask the Greek if he will have the majority of the fan support in the second round.
“I’ve known Thanassi for a really long time and we have practiced a lot of times. He is a really nice guy,” he begins.
“But that won’t really matter on the court.”
Inevitably the crowd’s response to the last part of Tsitsipas’ comment didn’t go down a storm, but fortunately the interview ended with him being cheered as he made a swift exit.
