Google News Jim Courier weighs in on Stefanos Tsitsipas getting frustrated with his family
by DZEVAD MESIC | VIEW 6784
Jim Courier offered some empathy for Stefanos Tsitsipas following the Greek's semifinal exit in Turin as the American tennis legend explained how Tsitsipas' family actually hurt the Greek during the Andrey Rublev match. On Friday, Tsitsipas played Rublev in a match that was deciding the winner of the last semifinal spot at the Atp Finals.
Tsitsipas made the better start to the match but Rublev recovered to win in three sets 3-6 6-3 6-2. At one point during the third set, Tsitsipas got so frustrated with his family that he hit the ball in the direction of his box.
Presumably, his father and mother were discussing the mistakes he was making. In the seventh game of the third set, Tsitsipas completely lost his composure as he was making stunning errors and serving consecutive double faults and that was the end of his hopes of beating Rublev.
Jim Courier on Stefanos Tsitsipas getting frustrated with his family
“My main takeaway from this is a little bit of a feeling of empathy for Stef Tsitsipas. Things that are out of his control are impacting him. His family, they’re so invested in his success.
They want so much for him, they want to help him from the sidelines, but they’re just hurting him. And it’s hurting his chances to play good tennis. You saw how he threw his serve away with two double faults [in the third set].
He got lost in the match when his parents started jawing at each other. I just feel for the kid. Because Stef seems like a good guy to me, and he’s said time and time again he doesn’t want the input from the bench.
But they give it to him anyway. It seems like they need a therapy session to figure it all out. Because they all want the same. They want their kid to do well, of course they do, but it’s just not working. The way it’s going about right now, it’s hurting him more than it’s helping," Courier said on Tennis Channel, as quoted on Sportskeda.
Tsitsipas' 2022 season is now over and he will probably take some time off before he kicks off his preparation for the 2023 season.