Noticeably annoyed, he then explained at the obligatory press conference that Rublev had beaten him with “the few weapons” available to him. After he faced a lot of headwind due to the disrespectful statement, especially via social media, Tsitsipas followed up again: “Dear haters, I have so much to be angry about, just be patient.”
However, he now regrets his behavior. He had no bad intentions, just wanted to motivate Rublev for his semi-final against Casper Ruud. “I saw it from a different perspective: I wanted him to be angry in his next game and try to play even better,” explained Tsitsipas.
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He added: “I won’t explain why because I think it’s pretty obvious what kind of situation I would have faced in the next game if I played against these opponents.”
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However, Tsitsipas’ incitement attempt did not fall on fertile ground, Rublev clearly lost to Ruud 2: 6, 4: 6. “I regret saying that, yes. I was extremely hurt that I wasn’t able to go all the way at the ATP Finals,” said Tsitsipas. He finally added: “I tried to let out some bad energy, but that wasn’t the responsible and good way.”
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