Carlos Alcaraz recently stunned World No.3 Stefanos Tsitsipas in a five-set thriller at the US Open 2021. The 18-year-old played some brilliant tennis and won the match despite losing the fourth set 6-0. With this, he also became the youngest Spaniard to enter into the fourth round of the US Open since Rafael Nadal did the same in 2006.
However, it is not the first time when Stefanos Tsitsipas made the headlines at the US Open 2021. Before this, he became a part of the huge toilet-break controversy after his encounter with Andy Murray. Surprisingly, the Greek spent about seven minutes in the toilet after losing the third set to Murray which made fans, as well as Murray, very angry.
In his recent article for El Pais, Rafael Nadal’s former coach, Toni Nadal, criticized Tsitsipas for his frequent toilet-breaks. He believes that no one should actually take unnecessary shortcuts to win anything.
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“I think that no follower of our sport can imagine Roger Federer or Rafael, I don’t see why not say it, looking for extra-sporting shortcuts to achieve victory,” wrote Toni in the article.
Toni also took the reference of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. He stated that none of their fans would ever imagine them doing any such thing even when they would be losing. It is because of this reason that the two are great icons of the sport.
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“Undoubtedly a brilliant player”- Toni Nadal on Stefanos Tsitsipas
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Even though Toni took a dig at Tsitsipas over his recent controversy, he also highlighted that he is actually a phenomenal player. He just mentioned that he doesn’t need to do all these activities in order to achieve success.
“Tsitsipas is undoubtedly a brilliant player and as such we expect him to win without the need for any ruse that he can profit from. Obviously you don’t need them. A great champion, and he is on the way to achieve it, not only because of his victories but because of how he achieves them,” added the Spaniard.
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After defeating Tsitsipas, Carlos Alcaraz will now face Germany’s Peter Gojowczyk in the pre-quarters of the US Open 2021. Will he be able to succeed in New York this year?