Stefanos Tsitsipas overcame a fan “imitating a bee” and American Ben Shelton to advance at the Cincinnati Masters.
The fourth-seeded Tsitsipas was made to work hard and secured the win via a pair of tiebreaks to get home 7-6(3), 7-6(2) in one-hour and 43-minutes.
The crowd also did its utmost to give the Greek star a hard time, leaving Tsitsipas visibly frustrated, forcing him to approach a fan in the stands about their behaviour.
READ MORE: ‘Absolute heartbreak’: Matildas crushed by England
READ MORE: Sam Kerr’s World Cup wondergoal leaves Australia stunned
IN PICTURES: Images that defined the World Cup semi final
It all started in the second set as Tsitsipas was about to serve when he paused and swatted around his face, believing a bee was flying around.
He then figured out it was a fan behind him making a buzzing sound and subsequently called for the umpire’s attention.
”There’s someone imitating a bee every time I serve,” he told the umpire.
“Do you think that’s okay?” he asked the official before he walked up to the crowd of people sitting behind him and spoke to them.
Another member of the crowd pointed out the culprit, leading to the Greek star to walk back to the umpire.
“This has never happened in my career. I want her gone, she needs to go,” Tsitsipas said as the umpire reassured him that he would ask the fan to stop.
When he went back to the baseline, the lady in question seemed to apologise to an irritated Tsitsipas before he continued play.
As for the clash with Shelton it was an extremely tight affair, with neither player facing a break point during proceedings.
The American won 84 per cent of points behind his first serve but was still outdone by Tsitsipas, who won 93 per cent.
“He’s still relatively young and he has that free spirit in the way he approaches his game,” said Tsitsipas.
“It came down to two tiebreakers and I was very confident if I made a few returns back and got him to rally a bit, things might go my way, and it ended up so. I was tough, for sure.
“I was tough as nails, and that gave me the win today.”
With the win, Tsitsipas is set to face Hubert Hurkacz in the third round. He has a 7-2 career record against Hurkacz.
Denial of responsibility! My Droll is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
