WATCH: How Stefanos Tsitsipas Became the Only Player to Anger Carlos Alcaraz on Court

In recent years, World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz and Stefanos Tsitsipas have developed quite a rivalry. Both players have a wide contrast in their attitudes. The Spaniard comes with a calm and composed one whereas the Greek has a tendency to lose his cool at most times. 

An incident last year between the two had raised some eyebrows when Alcaraz lost his cool for an instance during which he gave Stefanos a slight glare. It was one of those rare situations when fans got to see a stern look on the youngster’s face. 

When Stefanos Tsitsipas Just Missed Carlos Alcaraz

The incident took place at the Barcelona Open 2022. It was the quarterfinal round and as Carlos was serving for the opening set, the Greek hit an intentional shot, with real power directing towards the Spaniard’s face. However, the youngster still remained on the victorious side, winning 6-4, 5-7, 6-2. 

However, the match had some heated arguments. Especially regarding the bathroom break involving the chair umpire. Tsitsipas received a point penalty for taking a longer than usual bathroom break. On the other hand, he fumed when Alcaraz didn’t receive a penalty for doing the same.

Why Was Tsitsipas Frustrated?

To add to all that had already transpired until that point, in the final set, Tsitsipas took time during the change over, compelling the chair umpire to issue a second point penalty to Stefanos. Since he was already miffed at the earlier instance, he fumed further. The Greek lost his cool and was clearly very much still frustrated when aimed the ball towards Carlos.

The Spaniard got in his head which led to him behaving in an unsportsmanlike manner. This isn’t the first time he has let the emotions get the better of him. He has hit balls in the stands out of frustration, which certainly doesn’t represent the ethics of this sport. 

In the past too he has behaved poorly when he has faced Daniil Medvedev and Nick Kyrgios. During those matches too, his opponents have gotten into heated arguments wit him. Some of them have resulted in abusive set of words from both players.