Greek tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas continued his poor performances on the court, crashing out of the Japan Open, an ATP 500 tournament, after going down to Alex Michelsen in 3 sets (6-4, 1-6, 2-6).
Tsitsipas, ranked 12th in the global ATP rankings, picked up the first set 6-4 after breaking twice, and appeared ready to pass by the 20-year-old American, who is ranked 49th, but the game unraveled for the Greek star in the next sets.
At the end of the first set, the 26-year-old, who climbed to no.3 in the ATP ranking in 2021, requested a medical time-out as he was feeling unwell. His performance rapidly declined, with his opponent easily taking the two sets and only dropping 3 games in the process to win the match.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, who has been in the media spotlight with his on-court antics against his father, Apostolos, whom he recently fired, will remain in Asia to prepare for the Shanghai Masters set to kick off on October 2.
The decision to let his father go in August came after Tsitsipas profanely swore at his father/coach and demanded he leave the stands during his match against Kei Nishikori in the Canadian Open. In a televised outburst, Tsitsipas directed his father and coach to leave the box.
“I prefer to keep my father in the role of father, and only as a father,” he stated, among other things, in the long post, written in Greek. He also thanked his father and long-time mentor for his contributions to his development and success as a player.
