Stefanos Tsitsipas launched into a foul-mouthed rant during his United Cup defeat to Alexander Shevchenko, fuming that it was « impossible » to return on his backhand.
The world No. 11 went down 6-4, 7-6(0) in the biggest victory of Shevchenko’s career to put Kazakhstan 1-0 up in Group C in the United Cup.
It was an underwhelming performance from Tsitsipas, who was representing Greece, as they went out of the competition following Elena Rybakina’s win against Maria Sakkari in straight sets.
Tsitsipas called a medical time out in the second set and raged that he could not make the most of his backhand, ultimately giving up 40 unforced errors which tipped the scales in Shevchenko’s favour.
During the break in play, the Greek star said: “My backhand doesn’t go anywhere. I need to put a f****** truck behind it for it to go. It’s impossible to do anything with it.”
Tsitsipas called for the physio in the opening game of the second set, but was broken to love immediately after receiving treatment and complaining about his groundstokes.
Tsitsipas was able to find his game and force a tiebreak, but a supreme Shevchenko was flawless in the breaker to win the first-ever meeting between the pair.
« I think he was not at his best today but still I played really well and I found the moments to win the match, » world No. 78 Shevchenko said. « It will definitely go in my record as one of my best wins.
« I was risking with my backhand down the line and it worked out really well. I’ve been dreaming of playing this event… it’s unbelievable to be here playing on this court.
« I remember coming for ATP Cup a couple years ago and supporting [Daniil] Medvedev and [Roman] Safiullin. Now it’s unbelievable moments for me to play on this court in front of you guys.”
For Tsitsipas however, it was far from ideal preparation for next month’s Australian Open. He had secured a doubles win alongside Sakkari against Spain the previous day.
But while nursing a potential injury he comes into the Melbourne Major off the back of an underwhelming 2024 by his standards.
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