The ongoing fallout from Stefanos Tsitsipas’ mid-match breaks is showing no signs of stopping with the former coach of Rafael Nadal saying that other top players would never do such a thing.
The Greek world No.3 has come under criticism for the length of breaks he takes during some of his matches. Under current rules, players are allowed ‘reasonable time’ to leave the court for a medical or a bathroom break. Although Tsitsipas has been accused of abusing this rule by some of his rivals.
In his first two matches at the US Open, he took three toilet breaks, one medical time out and decided to switch his racket during the middle of one game where his opponent was serving. Andy Murray, who lost to Tsitsipas in the first round, criticised him for taking a break during their match which lasted around 8-9 minutes. In the second round against Adrian Mannarino, Tsitsipas took a toilet break after losing the second set before coming back to win the match in four. The tennis star has also been previously accused of abusing the break rule at other tournaments.
In his column for El Pais newspaper, Nadal has called for a limit to be implemented for how long a player can leave the court. A view which has also been previously said by Dominic Thiem. Nadal argues that the greats of the sport such as his nephew Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer would never behave in such a way.
“I think that no follower of our sport can imagine Roger Federer or Rafael, I don’t see why not say it, looking for extra-sporting shortcuts to achieve victory,” Nadal wrote.
“The way he [Tsitsipas] acted was not fair. Rafa or Federer would never do that. Stricter rules should be implemented for the bathroom breaks.
“Tsitsipas is undoubtedly a brilliant player and as such we expect him to win without the need for any ruse that he can profit from,” he continued.
“Obviously you don’t need them. A great champion, and he is on the way to achieve it, not only because of his victories but because of how he achieves them.”
Tsitsipas was knocked out of the US Open on Friday by rising star Carlos Alcaraz who prevailed in a five-set epic. Speaking to reporters afterwards, the 23-year-old said he has been misunderstood and unfairly portrayed as a villain of the tournament. Tsitsipas also admits that he ‘might’ have taken longer in his breaks than others but points out the rulebook enables him to do so.
“I know all of these things have been against me for no reason,” he said. “I took my toilet break as a normal athlete. [I] might have taken a bit longer than other athletes. But if there is a rule that says there’s a specific amount of time that you are allowed to take, then I would probably try and follow that.”
“But I feel like people don’t understand. They are here for the show, they want to watch tennis. They’re very impatient, especially the new generation. They just want to get it done quick. For me the only thing I did is change from wet clothes to dry clothes. Apparently it’s a huge issue.”
Amid the debate over if such tactics in the sport are ethical and should be allowed, fellow Greek player Maria Sakkari says she has Tsitsipas’ back and believes his actions are not done to deliberately favour him. Describing him as intense on the court but ‘slow in other movements.’
“I think he’s pretty strong mentally, and it’s not gonna affect him in the long run. I think, as I said in the Greek media before, I’m pretty sure he doesn’t do any of this on purpose. And I said that in a funny way, Stefanos is very intense on the court, but he is very slow in other movements, because I have played with him. I have seen how he is. I am not saying that in a bad way that he is slow,” Sakkari commented.
“I just want to tell you that he is not a very intense guy with his movements. He takes time to take out his racket and everything. I’m 100% sure he does not do that on purpose. He has my back on everything for sure.”
