Stefanos Tsitsipas has always stated that he wants to help his brother and soulmate Petros. The world no.5 played doubles with Petros to help him improve the rankings in various tournaments in 2021. Things got a bit weird in Marseille when Tsitsipas helped his brother to have a wild card in the singles main draw. This caused the outrage of many fans accusing Stefanos and the tournament of nepotism. Eventually, Petros lost to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-0 6-2 in just 45 minutes, and no one was really surprised about this outcome.
Why Petros received the wild card
According to the tournament director in Marseille, Jean-François Caujolle, the wild card was given to Petros to thank Stefanos for participating in the ATP250 event asking for a reduced appearance fee.
“The wild card awarded to Petros is to thank the Tsitsipas family, who supported the tournament. You should know that Stefanos’s appearance fee is twice less than the one he could have taken elsewhere,” Caujolle said as reported by journalist Eric Salliot.
« La wild-card accordée à Petros est en remerciement à la famille Tsitsipas, qui soutient le tournoi. Il faut savoir que la garantie de Stefanos est deux fois moindre à ce qu’il aurait pu prétendre ailleurs » Signé JF Caujolle. #open13
— Eric Salliot (@ericsalliot) March 14, 2021
Obviously, it is in the right of the tournaments to grant wildcards. However, the practice is often criticized also and especially when the wildcards are assigned to siblings
Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2021
Ranked world no.5 (career-high), the Greek played his last match on the 12th of March when he lost to Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-7(6) 6-4 6-2 in the quarter in Marseille (draw).
During this season Tsitsipas has achieved a compiled 10-3 win-loss record. Stefanos Tsitsipas’s best achievement of the current season was getting to the semifinal at the Australian Open and Rotterdam.
Petros Tsitsipas in 2021
Ranked no. (career-high), Petros played his last match on the 9th of March when he lost to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-0 6-2 in the 1st round in Marseille (draw).
During this season the Greek has managed to achieve a composed 0-1 win-loss record.
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Petros Tsitsipas have never faced off.
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Petros Tsitsipas |
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