Stefanos Tsitsipas has been criticized by some fans for a post on social media about money and having to pay bills.
Tsitsipas is a superb player and among the best men to watch on the ATP Tour when his game is flowing. Although he did not have a bad season, his results this year were not good enough to qualify for the ATP Finals.
The Greek No. 1, who still attended the ATP Finals as an alternate, said the long and exhausting tennis calendar was partly to blame for his inability to qualify for the season-ending tournament.
A controversial new move that lengthened the ATP and WTA seasons was an increased number of two-week Masters 1000 tournaments. In 2024, the Madrid Open and Italian Open Open were both made longer events.
Tsitsipas criticized the concept of two-week Masters 1000 events, but Stan Wawrinka proved he was being hypocritical since a video from 2022 showed he previously supported the move, and the 26-year-old did not admit he had been wrong to speak approvingly of the change.
The 2021 French Open runner-up has also generated discussion and sometimes controversy with other comments and actions. Many of Novak Djokovic's passionate fanbase were left seething when Tsitsipas picked Rafael Nadal over Djokovic as the better player.
Fans more broadly did not like when Tsitsipas slammed his racket onto the ground while his mixed doubles partner and girlfriend off-the-court Badosa was beside him, briefly startling the Spaniard.
Two years ago, Tsitsipas made a comment about money that angered some. He wrote "just another day of not being rich and hot" on social media, despite already being a multi-millionaire by then.
Dozens of social media users felt that the post was in bad taste since Tsitsipas is rich, and most of his fans are not. It seemed like the three-time Monte Carlo Masters champion would probably refrain from discussing money again after that incident.
However, Tsitsipas created more controversy on Sunday with a post on X (formerly Twitter). The 2023 Australian Open finalist wrote that his favorite childhood memory was not needing to consider bills.
"My favourite childhood memory? The memory of not paying bills."
Although Tsitsipas almost certainly did not mean to offend or hurt anyone with the post, that did not stop some from being angry about it. One user mentioned that the Greek would never need to worry about paying bills because of his tennis fortune.
"Says the man who never has to worry ever again about paying any bills thanks to the fortune he's made by hitting a fuzzy little ball."
Another user mentioned that Tsitsipas lives in Monaco, where he does not have to pay taxes, which makes his post even more tone-deaf. It was a surprising thing for Tsitsipas to post, knowing millions of fans worldwide would see it.
"Bro you live in Monaco you don’t pay taxes."
Although the post caused controversy, Tsitsipas has not deleted it. That indicates he has either not read the reaction to it or thinks his post is harmless, and those irritated by it are being too sensitive.