By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, January 28,2022
Bitter rivalries aren't always contained to the confines of the court.
After Daniil Medvedev out-dueled Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 to charge into his second straight Australian Open final, the feuding foes continues trading shots.
Medvedev: His Father Can Talk Every Point!
The mercurial Medvedev erupted on the chair umpire during a changeover in a rant reminiscent of the young John McEnroe demanding the ump take action on what he said was the senior Tsitsipas' chronic chatter.
“Bro, Are you mad?” Medvedev asked the chair umpire adding: “For what? And his father can talk every point. No, are you stupid? His father can talk every point.
"His father can talk every point! His father can talk everyo point! Answer my question!"
Asked his reaction to the second-ranked Russian ranting to the chair umpire that Tsitsipas was receiving coaching from his father, Apostolos, seated in the player box, the Greek countered Medvedev's outburst may have been gamesmanship.
Tsitsipas jabbed Medvedev as "not the most mature person anyways."
"Well, it's for sure funny," a smiling Tsitsipas said in his post-match presser. "It's funny. I don't pay attention to the stuff.
"I know players like to do this stuff to throw you off mentally. Could be maybe a tactic. It's all right. He's not the most mature person anyways."
US Open champion Medvedev clarified his on-court outburst afterward saying he doesn't consider Tsitispas a cheater, but does believe he should be hit with code violations if his father is seen or heard coaching.
"Oh, no, cheating, not at all," Medvedev said of Tsitsipas. "But the thing is that, well, first of all, I got broken, I got a little bit mad. I thought the referee could do a little bit better with the crowd, just to say, Quiet, please, or something like this...
"To be honest, before every return his father was talking Greek. I don't know, maybe he's saying, Come on, come on, there is no problem.
"But then the referee told me, I asked him if he can talk. He said he can talk but he can't coach. Then I said, Do you speak Greek? If not, the guy is talking, talking, talking. I don't know what he says, but if it's a coach -- I don't consider coaching as cheating but it should be a code violation. Then second one would be a bit tricky."
The Roland Garros runner-up has been criticized by opponents for receiving coaching from his father, who sometimes uses hand gestures, by rivals in the past, In Cincinnati last August, Alexander Zverev charged Tsitsipas takes his phone with him for clothing changes and bathroom breaks to receive coaching via text from his father.
Tsitsipas has repeatedly denied these charges and called Medvedev's coaching accusations "nonsense." Tsitsipas said in a stadium as large as Rod Laver Arena he simply can't hear anything his father might say anyway because of persistent crowd noise. The Greek also believes he's "a victim" of opponents who play the coaching card against him to try to disrupt his rhythm.
"I'm used to it. They've been targeting me already a long time," Tsitsipas said. "I feel like I've gotten a few in the past, and the umpires are always paying attention to my box, never paying attention to the opponent's box. I feel I have been a victim of that for a long time now.
"I mean, what can I say? The referees, I don't think they will ever understand that I cannot hear anything when I'm playing because I'm trying to find solutions and try and read the game and recreate the game in my mind before the point starts. Last thing I want is someone giving me tips and giving me advice on what I should do."
Though Tsitsipas praised Medvedev as one of tennis' toughest fighters showing a marathoner's stamina, he also questioned if the second-ranked Russian is really built for the long run.
"He's a great competitor. He runs like marathon runner, he can run for hours and hours," Tsitsipas said of Medvedev. "I'm not sure myself if that's something that can last very long, having to run so much. Speaking from experiences like other players and champions, Grand Slam champions that I've seen, it had a huge impact to their body.
"But I respect the fact that he's able to run so much and make it physical out there in every single point. Oh, yeah, he's one of the biggest fighters, together with Nadal. I guess he's earned the title."
Photo credit Getty