Stefanos Tsitsipas’ US Open Match Breaks Isn’t The Issue, It Is The Fact He Is Allowed To Do So - UBITENNIS
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Stefanos Tsitsipas’ US Open Match Breaks Isn’t The Issue, It Is The Fact He Is Allowed To Do So

Without a doubt taking a long break to disrupt your opponent’s momentum is unethical but is it fair to criticize players for such tactics if they are technically allowed to do so?

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image via https://twitter.com/usopen

A day after his exit from the US Open Andy Murray was clearly still annoyed by the actions of his opponent Stefanos Tsitsipas during the first round clash on Monday. 

In what was a roller-coaster five-set epic on the Arthur Ashe stadium, both players battled valiantly with Murray at times producing tennis which was reminiscent of the form which took him to world No.1 a few years ago. With each player winning two sets, the showdown was heading into a decider. Tsitsipas had won the fourth set and the momentum was on his side but then the match stopped. Not due to adverse weather or a medical timeout. It was simply because the Greek left the court to change his clothes which is allowed. Although his absence from the court was eight minutes in total which was controversial, to say the least. 

“It’s not so much leaving the court. It’s the amount of time. I spoke to my team before the match about it and said to expect that, prepare for it if things were not going his way. So I was trying to do that,” Murray said during his press conference. 

“I think when he took the medical timeout, it was just after I had won the third set. Also in the fourth set when I had Love-30, he chose to go — I don’t know if he changed his racquet or what we was doing. It can’t be a coincidence that it’s happening at those moments. I don’t believe it was causing him any issue at all. The match went on for another two and a bit hours after that or something. He was fine, moving great I thought,” he added.

After proclaiming he has lost respect for the world No.3, Murray continued to express his frustration the following day on social media. On Twitter, he didn’t hold back when cracking a joke about Tsitsipas’ breaks during matches. 

https://twitter.com/andy_murray/status/1432677183030538248

In response Tsitsipas’ brother, Petros replied ‘never expected this kind of behaviour, from a supposedly tennis legend,’ before later deleting his comment. So is Murray wrong to react as he did or should Tsitsipas be held accountable for his tactics? 

To add some context to the situation, Tsitsipas has a history of taking these kinds of breaks. In fact, Essentially Sports have documented at least four other incidents where a player has commented on it. Perhaps the most controversial statement was from Alexander Zverev who claimed he took his phone with him during a break in their match at the Western and Southern Open. Something that is against the rules as communicating with others during matches is prohibited. Tsitsipas and his team have denied doing such a thing. 

Evidently, there is a pattern forming with Tsitsipas being among others players to go down the route of taking long breaks during matches. The idea being it is tactical in order for them to regroup. Former player Anabel Croft commented on Amazon Prime that Tsitsipas learned the value of a bathroom break during his clash with Novak Djokovic at the French Open who came back to beat the Greek following a brief halt he requested.

Nevertheless, the outcry shouldn’t so much be about Tsitsipas and where he potentially learned his tactics from. The questions need to be about what can be done to address the issue. 

“I don’t think Stefanos does it on purpose to break down the rhythm of an opponent. I think he’s just taking his time and probably no one is telling him ‘OK, hurry up’. That’s where the supervisors should be more aware, to say ‘listen, you can’t spend 10 minutes after the second or third set,” former player Alex Corretja told Eurosport. 

This is where the real problem lies. Whether or not Tsitsipas conducts bad sportsmanship during matches doesn’t really matter at the moment simply because he is within his right to do so. Which he acknowledged during his own press conference. There are no rules to counteract such an issue which has prompted reigning US Open champion, Dominic Thiem, to call for action. 

“There should be a time limit to that because if you go out to change all your clothes, it doesn’t take long, 3-4 minutes, maximum 5, so there should be a time limit on that,’ Thiem told The Tennis Channel. “I heard Andy’s (Murray) press conference and he was right. It (a long break) just cools down your body and you are getting stiff and it is not easy at all.”

Murray says there are currently discussions underway among the ATP Player Council concerning how they can tackle the issue of breaks during matches being used for the wrong reasons. In the meantime, expect more showdowns like Murray-Tsitsipas to happen on Tour. 

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Alcaraz Halts Sinner’s Winning Streak To Reach The Final In Indian Wells

Carlos Alcaraz earns the right to defend his title at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells fending off Jannik Sinner’s assault to his ATP no. 2 spot

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Jannik Sinner (left) and Carlos Alcaraz (right) - Indian Wells 2024 (photo Twitter X @BNPPARIBASOPEN)

All good things come to an end. Jannik Sinner was on a 19-match winning streak since his loss to Novak Djokovic in the final of the Nitto ATP Finals that included his first Grand Slam win in Australia last January, and appeared as the most in-form player at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, the first Masters 1000 tournament of the season. But as he faced Carlos Alcaraz in an eagerly-awaited semifinal, he was unable to continue his quest for the third consecutive title of the season, succumbing to the Spaniard 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.

The match was a face-off for the no. 2 spot in the ATP ranking that Alcaraz will still occupy next Monday regardless of the result of Sunday’s final, and this is a much-needed confidence boost for him after a disappointing start of the season where he was handily beaten in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open by Zverev and did not win any tournament during the South American clay court swing where he was ousted by Nicolas Jarry in Buenos Aires and had to retire for an ankle injury at the Rio Open.

The match, originally scheduled for 1.30 pm Pacific Time, had to be suspended for over three hours after only three games because of an unusual downpour. As the match resumed, Sinner appeared once again the perfectly-tuned machine that had been crushing opponents with metronomic regularity for the past weeks while Alcaraz was struggling to keep up with his opponent’s pace from the baseline.

The first set was smooth sailing for the Italian who cruised to a comprehensive 6-1 in 27 minutes: Alcaraz was tentative from the baseline and could not find the right position to fire his screamers and change the tactical discourse of the match. “Then at the beginning of the second set, as I saw he was making a lot of mistakes, I tried to be as solid as possible when I should have kept pushing instead – Sinner said during his press conference – and that’s what cost me the match in the end”.

While serving at 1-2 in the second set, a few uncharacteristic forehand mistakes started to dot his thus far spotless game, and that cost him the break that sent Alcaraz flying to a 4-1 advantage. The Spaniard then found the confidence to change his return position and make Sinner work a lot more on his service games, as the Italian struggled to find a countermeasure to the tactical shift in the match: “I kept doing the same thing over and over again”, Sinner stressed, and forehand unforced errors started to pile up to reach the burdensome number of 27 at the end of the match.

Sinner had the chance to find his way back into the second set while Alcaraz was serving at 3-5, but Carlos cancelled his break point with a laser backhand down the line that had the 15,000-strong crowd cheering on their feet.

The third set ran away very quickly from the Italian, who started touching repeatedly the back of his left leg around his knee. Sinner got broken again during the third game, and while going for a last-ditch attempt to recover a short volley by Alcaraz he tumbled to the ground slightly injuring his right elbow and arm. From there onwards it was just more mistakes by Sinner and a clinical execution by Alcaraz on how to take home a match.

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“It Feels Great’ – Novak Djokovic Marks Indian Wells Return With Milestone Win

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Novak Djokovic - Indian Wells 2024 (foto Ubitennis)

Novak Djokovic says he still has a ‘great feeling’ in Indian Wells after playing his first match at the event for five years. 

The world No.1 battled to a 6-2, 5-7, 6-3, win over Aleksandar Vukic in what was his first taste of competitive tennis since losing in the semi-finals of the Australian Open. It was a far from smooth encounter for Djokovic, who hit 23 winners and won 83% of his first service points. In the second set, he was broken twice with the second of those occurring when he was serving at 5-6. Nevertheless, he battled back in the decider to win. 

This year is the first time Djokovic has been able to play in the Masters 1000 event since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After the 2020 tournament was cancelled, he was unable to play the next three editions due to restrictions placed on unvaccinated foreign visitors to America. Despite the absence, the five-time champion states that his love for the event is as strong as ever.

“It feels great to come back with the win. It’s been five years and the great feeling is still there. I enjoyed myself very much. Beautiful stadium. Great atmosphere.” Djokovic said during his press conference. 
“I was a bit nervous at the beginning. I haven’t played a match in more than five weeks. I thought the start was good. Then I think he upped his game.
“I probably lost a little bit of the momentum. We got into the third set, I thought the level of the tennis was pretty good in the third. Great points. He made me produce some really important points in games in order to prevail in this match. I’m glad that I was pushed, as well, which is important.”

Djokovic’s latest victory is his 400th in a Masters 1000 tournament. He is only the second player in history to have reached this milestone since the tournament category was introduced in 1990. The first to do so was Rafael Nadal who currently has 406 wins to his name. 

He could create more history in Indian Wells should the Serbian go on to claim the title this year. If he does, he would become the first man to have won it for a sixth time. Although Djokovic is refusing to get too far ahead of himself. 

“I would love to,” he said of trying to claim a sixth title. “Obviously there is still a long way to get to the title match, but it’s a good start.’
“I know I can always produce better tennis. Obviously very self-critical, and I think some extent it’s also important because then it puts you in the right mindset of wanting to work more and being engaged in the process of improving on a daily basis, or trying to perfect your game and right the wrongs that you’ve done in a previous match or previous practice session.
“So that’s what I’m going to keep doing and hopefully building my game as this tournament is played over 10 to 14 days, so it allows you to have the practice days also between matches, which then allows you to work on certain specifics in the game.”

Djokovic will play Italy’s Luca Nardi in the next round. 

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Carlos Alcaraz Brushes Aside Injury Doubts To Reach Indian Wells Third Round

Carlos Alcaraz is into the third round at Indian Wells after a three set win over Matteo Arnaldi.

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Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz overcame injury doubts to edge past Matteo Arnaldi 6-7(5) 6-0 6-1 at Indian Wells.

The world number two had to endure an aggressive opening set from the in-form Italian to reach the third round.

After a tight opening set, Alcaraz raced through the last two sets as he set up a third round showdown with Felix Auger-Aliassime.

The Spaniard had entered this match with injury doubts after retiring from his match with Thiago Monteiro in Rio De Janeiro.

However Alcaraz was very pleased with how his ankle held up as he moved on in California, “Honestly it surprised me. I felt great, moving normally without thinking about it,” Alcaraz told the ATP website.

“It was a really good match to realise that I am better than I thought. I think I played great tennis because of that. I had to change just a few things. I made a few mistakes in the first set… I had to put in more first serves in the second and third set, and I think that was a big key to improving my level a little bit, to be in the rallies — long rallies as well, to get the rhythm, and I’m really happy to get it at the end.

“But right now I’m getting better and feeling really, really well. But I think I have to get a good rhythm step by step. I think that’s the big difference between last year and this one. This [is a] really special tournament for me. I want to do it well. This is the first match playing high intensity and I didn’t know how it’s going respond, the ankle.

“I have to deal with it, but I didn’t deal with the nerves very well in the first set, moving differently, hitting the ball differently. My game is playing aggressive all the time. And try to stay calm and wait for my chances.

“When you get nervous, you don’t think about it. You don’t hit the ball as good as you want. You don’t move as good as you want. I think that’s the big difference.”

Alcaraz will hope for a good week this week as he defends the Indian Wells title as he aims to win a first title since Wimbledon this week.

Next for the Spaniard will be Felix Auger-Aliassime, who defeated Constant Lestienne in straight sets.

Auger-Aliassime currently leads the head-to-head 3-1 but Alcaraz won their last meeting in Indian Wells last year.

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