“Patrick Mouratoglou rubbing his hands”;"So overdue": Fans react to Stefanos Tsitsipas’ split with father Apostolos as coach after Canadian Open drama
Stefanos Tsitsipas' decision to part ways with his father and coach, Apostolos, after calling him out during his shocking 2R defeat to Kei Nishikori at the 2024 National Bank Open sparked discussions among tennis fans. The Greek also had a heated exchange with his father during which he asked him to leave his player box.
Seeded eighth, Tsitsipas began his campaign against Kei Nishikori in the opening round but was stunned by the Japanese in straight sets to bring an unfortunate end to the kick-off of his North American hardcourt swing.
After the defeat, the 25-year-old called out his father on his coaching abilities and expressed his disappointment at the way he has been handling things. Sometime later, he took to X (formerly Twitter) to announce that he had relieved his father of his coaching duties and also apologized to him for lashing out at him.
"It is with a heavy heart that I inform you that my collaboration with my father as a coach has come to an end. I prefer to keep my father in his role as a father, and only as a father."
Fans took to Reddit to react to this situation, with one of them seemingly joking about how Patrick Mouratoglou must be excited about this sudden development. The French coach recently parted ways with Holger Rune. Mouratoglou had also briefly coached Tsitsipas during the initial phase of the Greek's career.
"Patrick Mouratoglu rubbing his hands right now," the fan wrote.
Another fan claimed that the split was overdue and felt that the relationship between Stefanos Tsitsipas and his father Apostolos was 'toxic'.
"This was so overdue. That coach/father/son/player relationship seemed toxic AF," the fan opined.
Here are some other reactions from the fans.
"I’ll believe it when I see at least a half-a-year-worth of Apostolos-less box lol" a fan joked.
"Will he still owe an apostrofee?" a fan quipped.
"He said that his dad is still going to be traveling with him so…" a fan mentioned.
"WAR IS OVER! (as long as he doesn’t go back in 2 weeks)," a fan exulted.
"I'm not sure who will take his place" - Stefanos Tsitsipas is yet to decide on his future coach
Continuing his thoughts in his tweet, Stefanos Tsitsipas mentioned that his father will continue to accompany him on the tour to provide support.
"My father will continue to travel with me and be there to support me and provide assistance off the field, as I have always wanted."
The Greek then said he had yet to decide on who he wanted to take Apostolos' place as his new coach and didn't find himself in a proper position to decide it.
"I have trusted my father with the coaching role for so many years, and I consider our partnership to be successful. I'm not sure who will take his place, and I'm not in a position to decide yet. What I do know is that it is time to let this chapter and this phase close, and try to write a new one."
Stefanos Tsitsipas will next compete at the Cincinnati Masters, where he will be joined by the likes of Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev, and others.