"And people get annoyed when Andy Murray gets some" - Tennis fans displeased with Stefanos Tsitsipas' brother Petros receiving 100th career wildcard
Stefanos Tsitsipas' younger brother Petros Tsitsipas received the 100th wildcard of his career at the 2023 Madrid Open, sparking angry reactions from tennis fans.
The Tsitsipas brothers will kickoff their doubles campaign in Madrid on Friday against fourth seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Marcelo Arevalo in the Round of 32. Petros is ranked No. 124 in the doubles category. Petros and Stefanos were last seen in action together at the 2023 Monte-Carlo Masters, where they lost in the second round.
Throughout his career, Petros Tsitsipas has received 100 wildcards across various tournaments, 55 in singles competitions and 45 in doubles. Tennis fans expressed their displeasure with the perceived bias towards the 22-year-old.
"Wild to see people defending this. People don't care about fairness I guess," one Twitter user said.
another Wildcard in Madrid doubles........
Wild to see people defending this. People don't care about fairness I guess. twitter.com/TheTennisTalke…
Another fan alluded to the fact that Petros received all those wildcards due to his brother, Stefanos Tsitsipas:
"I’m tired of that man getting wildcards because of someone else’s achievements."
I’m tired of that man getting wildcards because of someone else’s achievements… twitter.com/thetennistalke…
Another user pointed out that Petros has underperformed despite constantly receiving wildcards. One fan pointed out that there is outrage when three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray received wildcards.
"Once you’ve given 55 wildcards to someone, I’d think you’d expect them to be at least in the top 500. And people get annoyed when Andy Murray gets some."
@TheTennisTalker Once you’ve given 55 wildcards to someone, I’d think you’d expect them to be at least in the top 500 🤷🏻♀️… And people get annoyed when Andy Murray gets some…
Here are more reactions from tennis fans on Twitter:
@TheTennisTalker It’s been raised a number of times I guess, but this is not fair to other young and promising players
This kind of makes me mad idk why, at some point have some shame twitter.com/thetennistalke…
Wild to see people defending this. People don't care about fairness I guess. twitter.com/TheTennisTalke…
@TheTennisTalker 55 wildcards in singles and he is ranked 1500? Yikes.
@TheTennisTalker For real?? There’s no way that’s the actual number. Right….??
@TheTennisTalker And yet people bitch at Andy and Emma getting wildcards...
Stefanos Tsitsipas will lock horns with Dominic Thiem in the second round of 2023 Madrid Open
Stefanos Tsitsipas will begin his Madrid Open singles campaign against Dominic Thiem on Saturday, April 29.
Tsitsipas, 24, will take on the former Grand Slam winner in the second round of the ATP Masters 1000 event. Thiem beat Kyle Edmund in the first round, 6-4, 6-1 to set up a clash with the 2023 Australian Open finalist.
In his last outing, Stefanos Tsitsipas beat the likes of Denis Shapovalov and Lorenzo Musetti to reach the final of the Barcelona Open before losing to Carlos Alcaraz, 6-3, 6-4.
Tsitsipas reached the final of the 2019 Madrid Open, where he lost to Novak Djokovic, 6-3, 6-4. He defeated Rafael Nadal in the semifinals of the tournament.