Stefanos Tsitsipas' temper flared during his gutsy four-set win in the second round of Roland Garros, and he gave his father Apostolos a tongue-lash.
In a battle between two one-handers, it was Tsitsipas who looked in prime position to close out a straight-sets win over Daniel Altmaier on Wednesday, winning the first two sets for the loss of five games.
But the German, who had previously made the second week at the clay-court Grand Slam in 2021 and defeated Jannik Sinner last year, raised his level in the third set to win it in a tie-break.
There was cause for concern that Tsitsipas might suffer a similar fate to Sinner last year, and his father was seen barking out coaching instructions at him to remedy his situation shortly after his son wasted a break point at 2-1 in the fourth set.
Feeling extremely unsettled and tense, the 25-year-old fired back by telling his father to "shut up." Altmaier held and moments later broke Tsitsipas to lead 4-3 in the fourth. But it was a short-lived advantage because the Athenian came storming back to win three successive games and the match.
The fractious moment with his parents has been a recurring episode in Tsitsipas' camp. Last year, while competing at the Italian Open, he requested that his mother be removed from the coaching box and follow the match from the stands.
At this year's Barcelona Open, a chair umpire had to intervene to prevent a chatty exchange between Tsitsipas and his father, which was against the rules. Nevertheless, his progress to the third round of the singles tournament is all that matters, and both he and father Apostolos will be keen to forget this fresh spat.
Tsitsipas will compete in doubles (partnering brother Petros) and mixed doubles (partnering girlfriend Paula Badosa) at this year's Roland Garros, which will be an additional burden.
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