Quite a day: Pops exiled, new strings fail, Tsitsipas loses in Montreal – and Pops is fired

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MONTREAL – It’s not even that hot in Montreal today. But tempers and patience are on a knife’s edge.

After a match that included the banishment of father and coach Apostolos to the last row of the seats on the Rogers Court, and an eventual 6-4, 6-4 loss to Kei Nishikori, Stefanos Tsitsipas was not holding back.

Tsitsipas pronounced himself extremely disappointed with the current state of their father-son collaboration, and didn’t need to be prompted to share his toughts.

Here’s what he had to say.

In short, Tsitsipas changed the type of string he uses in his racquets this week. It hasn’t felt even great in practice; Tsitsipas felt like his ball wasn’t going anywhere – especially the “dead” Wilson US Open extra duty ball being used this week and beyond. It has not been a favorite with most of the players, to say the least.

But despite the feedback the son was giving his father/coach, the father ordained that they persist with the string.

Less than 24 hours later, Tsitsipas announced the end of their collaboration in a rather lengthy Tweet Friday morning.

Σας ενημερώνω με βαριά καρδιά ότι η συνεργασία μου με τον πατέρα μου ως προπονητής έχει φτάσει στο τέλος της. Προτιμώ να κρατήσω τον πατέρα μου στον ρόλο του ως πατέρας, και μόνο ως πατέρας.

Η φιλοσοφία μας διδάσκει ότι η σοφία έρχεται μέσα από την κατανόηση των ορίων μας και…

— Stefanos Tsitsipas (@steftsitsipas) August 9, 2024

A few truths in there, including that if he’s an introverted type, as he says he is, it’s a logical follow that he went off on him publicly when the frustration accumulated to the point where it had to come out. And that, of course, is unfortunate.

He notably didn’t really apologize publicly to his father, though; it was all written in the first person. And dad does deserve that.

The other noteworthy thing is that this man, who turns 26 in a few days, will still have his father travelling with him. To be … a father.

So at least at the moment, not much has changed from a practical standpoint. Especially as Tsitsipas says he’s not yet in a position to decide on a new coach.

Tsitsipas considers that has “some power” in the relationship (actually, he has ALL the power, even if he doesn’t know it). But he considers it a father/son, player/coach collaboration above all. And in the last few days, has not felt it’s been a fruitful one because Pops is … just not listening to his feedback.

And so at 5-2 in the first set for Nishikori, after Tsitsipas had been broken for a second time and after a rather civilized discussion over in the corner of the court, Apostolos was exiled.

There was no yelling; it was all very civilized (although according to an Open Court reader fluent in Greek some profanities were … expressed). But Pops was gone.

Tsitsipas won 10 straight points after that. The No. 8 seed went back to racquets with his usual string. But it felt as though it was only a matter of time, as poorly as he was playing and as well as Nishikori was playing, that the inevitable would occur.

If Tsitsipas felt he needed to air this out for the media, it’s likely because, as he pointed out, he’d been saying he’s had issues with the strings for 4-5 days, and Pops wasn’t listening to him.

These two have had dustups before. But no coach who has been brought in either to head in a new direction or give these two a break from each other has ever really worked out for very long.

So it’s just another chapter in their relationship. They really can’t quit each other – and it’s emblematic of so many of the father-child coaching relationships in tennis even if this one seems rather more functional than many others.

The announcement Friday that Apostolos is no longer is coach is one he made before. It didn’t really stick. And he’ll still be around. So many chapters still to come.

It was … sort of interesting the last time.

But those new strings are probably in a dustbin in the players’ lounge at this point.

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