Stefanos Tsitsipas lost a tough semifinal against Alexander Zverev in Cincinnati where many things went wrong for him. Tsitsipas lost the match even if he was leading 4-1 (and 2 breaks) in the 3rd set. However, things got quite awkward on court when he was accused by Zverev of cheating.
After losing the first set, Stefanos Tsitsipas went for one of his lengthy toilet breaks. The world number 3 is used to bring an entire bag with him during these breaks. Sascha had a strong point with the chair umpire that those breaks are fishy and that Stefanos’ father was probably coaching him via text messages since Stefanos had his cellphone in the bag.
Stefanos is used to be caught being coached by his father during the matches and tennis legend Andy Roddick stressed the fact that all the anecdotal evidence points to the fact that Tsitsipas was indeed coached during these breaks.
When asked to comment about Zverev’s allegations and coaching in general, Stefanos replied:
“I don’t know what to say. Honestly, I don’t know what to say. Right now we know that coaching is not permitted, but it might change in the future. I don’t know.”
“I have never done anything…,” said Tsitispas before being stopped.
Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2021
Now ranked no.3 (career-high), Tsitsipas played his last match on the 21st of August when he surrendered to world no.4 Alexander Zverev 6-4 3-6 7-6(4) in the semifinal in Cincinnati (draw).
During this season the Greek achieved an overall 48-14 win-loss record. The Greek conquered 2 titles in 2021 in Monte-Carlo and in Lyon. The Greek was the runner-up in Acapulco, in Barcelona and at the French Open.
Alexander Zverev in 2021
Now the world no.4, Alexander played his last match on the 22nd of August when he beat world no.7 Andrey Rublev 6-2 6-3 in the final in Cincinnati to win his 17th career title.
Until now, during this year the German achieved a compiled 38-11 record. Alexander conquered 4 titles in 2021 in Acapulco, in Madrid, in Tokyo and in Cincinnati.
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev fought against each other 9 times. Their head to head is 6-3 for Tsitsipas. The last time they played each other, Alexander Zverev won 6-4 3-6 7-6(4) in the semifinal in Cincinnati (Western & Southern Open) on the 21st of August 2021.
In the following video you can watch the key moments of their match.
