Stefanos Tsitsipas lost a tough semifinal to Daniil Medvedev at the Australian Open. Unfortunately, Stefanos’ father Apostolos was caught once again coaching after Daniil complained.
Coaching and the sting-operation
After losing the second set, Medvedev went mad at the chair umpire, saying that he should give a warning to Tsitsipas because his father kept on talking and coaching him during their match. However, the big problem for the umpire was that it was difficult to catch Stefanos’ father red-handed because he could not understand Greek. Therefore, it was tricky to understand if Apostolos was just cheering for his son or coaching him.
The Australian Open organization had the brilliant idea of positioning Greek-speaking umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore near Apostolos (she was undercover) to understand if he was coaching. Indeed, Stefanos’ father gave his son tactical instructions, and Eva alerted the chair umpire. The result was (yet another) warning for Stefanos.
During the press conference that followed the semifinal, Stefanos Tsitsipas said that the umpires had targeted him, and he is a victim. Probably, better for Stefanos if his father stops giving instructions during his matches.
Here is the video.
Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2022
Now the world no.4, the Greek played his last match on the 28th of January when he lost to world no.2 Daniil Medvedev 7-6(5) 4-6 6-4 6-1 in the semifinal in Australian Open (draw).
Currently, during this year Stefanos has achieved an overall 6-2 win-loss record. Stefanos Tsitsipas’s latest run at the Australian Open was the best achievement of his season.
Medvedev at the Australian Open, ranking, and results in 2022
Currently ranked no.2 (career-high), Daniil has a 9-1 record in 2022. The Russian is now playing at the Australian Open where he toppled Henri Laaksonen 6-1 6-4 7-63, Nick Kyrgios 7-61 6-4 4-6 6-2, Botic Van De Zandschulp 6-4 6-4 6-2, Maxime Cressy 6-2 7-64 6-74 7-5, Felix Auger Aliassime 6-74 3-6 7-62 7-5 6-4 and Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-65 4-6 6-4 6-1.
Daniil Medvedev will take on the world no.5 Rafael Nadal in the final on Sunday at 7:30 pm on Rod Laver Arena. Their record is 3-1 for Nadal.
Daniil won 13 titles in his career: 6 on hard courts, 6 on indoor courts and 1 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev clashed against each other 9 times. Their actual head to head record is 7-2 for Medvedev. Previously, the last time they played, Daniil Medvedev won 7-6(5) 4-6 6-4 6-1 in the semifinal in Melbourne (Australian Open) on the 28th of January 2022.
You can watch the highlights in the following video.