"We were practically offered to play dirty tennis there" - Julia Apostoli on her son Stefanos Tsitsipas' 2022 Wimbledon clash with Nick Kyrgios
Stefanos Tsitsipas' mother Julia Apostoli did not hold back her thoughts regarding her son's 2022 Wimbledon Championships defeat to Nick Kyrgios.
Tsitsipas and Kyrgios clashed in the third round at Wimbledon this year, with the match living up to expectations. The feisty clash on Court No. 1 saw the Australian triumph in four sets.
As with most matches involving Kyrgios, this was also marred by underarm serves and lengthy exchanges of dialogues with the chair umpire. Midway through the clash, the Greek, frustrated with losing the second set, hit the ball towards the crowd, for which he got a warning. However, Kyrgios demanded that his opponent be given a default for his behavior.
While the Aussie held his nerves to come through the contest, all the drama got to Tsitsipas who ended up losing 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-3, 7-6. The war of words even continued in the players' press conferences afterwards.
In an explosive post-script to their epic clash, Stefanos Tsitsipas says Nick Kyrgios's antics should not be accepted in the sport.
'Has an evil side to him': Tsitsipas slams 'bully' Kyrgios after bitter Wimbledon battle https://t.co/5skm4uIvlf
Speaking about the match with Russian media house Championat, Julia Apostoli stated that Stefanos Tsitsipas' Wimbledon match against Kyrgios was "very nervous" and that her son "lost his temper" as he could not play "dirty tennis."
“Could have played better, of course. Our [Wimbledon] match turned out to be very nervous with Nick Kyrgios. That is, we were practically offered to play dirty tennis there, but we don’t know how to play such tennis. Therefore, Styopa [Tsitsipas' nickname] lost his temper and left the court without getting there," she said, adding, "The only person, perhaps, who brings him into a state of complete confusion is Nick Kyrgios."
Stefanos Tsitsipas goes down to Novak Djokovic in Astana Open final
Stefanos Tsitsipas has had a decent season, winning two titles and posting a 53-19 win-loss record. While his two titles came at the Monte Carlo Masters and the Mallorca Championships, he has finished as the runner-up four times - at the Cincinnati Masters, Rome Masters, Rotterdam Open, with the latest being the Astana Open.
At the Astana Open in Kazakhstan, Tsitsipas went down in straight sets to Novak Djokovic to hand the Serb his 90th career ATP title. The former World No. 1 needed just 76 minutes to win 6-3, 6-4, a result that also sealed his place in the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin.
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
Novak Djokovic plays a fantastic match to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 6-4 and to crown himself in Astana 👑
It's the title number 90 of his career, the 4th in the last 5 tournaments played since Rome
Amazing 💥 https://t.co/aWtrNV7Ntt
The Greek player's mother Julia Apostoli, who doesn't always travel around the world with Tsitsipas, was in Astana to watch her son play as she wanted to see the city after reading great reviews about the place online.
"No, not necessarily [traveling with the whole family]. At the moment I am with them, because I really wanted to see Astana. Secondly, this tournament is interesting. Styopa [Tsitsipas' nickname] has a main sponsor from Kazakhstan, a logo on the sleeve. The people are pleasant. Insanely beautiful city, amazing. I looked at the reviews, but I didn’t fully understand how wonderful it was here," she said.