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Australian Open: Stefanos Tsitsipas involved in awkward interview with Jim Courier
On the court Stefanos Tsitsipas couldn’t have been more impressive in his opening round win over Gilles Simon. But that wasn’t the case off it.
On the court Stefanos Tsitsipas couldn’t have been more impressive in his opening round win over Gilles Simon.
However, things took an awkward turn during the post-match interview, which is an early favourite to be the strangest of the tournament.
Asked about his performance by commentator Jim Courier, Tsitsipas wasn’t short on positivity.
Courier began, “Stefanos, Gilles Simon has been around in the top hundred for 15 years. He’s been as high as six in the world, a high quality difficult opponent to play and yet you dominated the scoreboard tonight. Were you surprised at the scoreline?
Well... That was random. 😂😂😂
— Wide World of Sports (@wwos) February 9, 2021
Have a listen to one of the strangest post-match interviews with @steftsitsipas. 🇬🇷
WATCH: @Channel9
STREAM: https://t.co/TYsz5RZN3Z #9WWOS #AusOpen #AO2021 pic.twitter.com/i3H5Q2Tnoq
To which Tsitsipas replied, “I don’t know. Well, I don’t know what to say. I obviously wasn’t expecting it to come so easy. It was a great match from my side.”
The crowd reacted mostly with laughs, leaving the Greek star wondering what he had done wrong.
“Oh my god, I feel like I messed it up already. I think I played a great, spectacular match from the beginning until the end.”
That led to more laughs, to which he finally said to the crowd, “What am I doing here?”
“I don’t know what his (Simon’s) tactic was. I can just leave if you want me to? That was the last thing I was expecting. To play at Rod Laver and everyone laughing at me.”
Even Courier weighed in on the uneasy interview.
“You’re looking comfortable for sure out here. Except for this interview. It is really awkward.”
Tsitsipas will take on Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis in his second round match. He didn’t do a great job of winning the crowd back when asked about the clash.
“I know Thanasi for a long time. We’ve practised a couple of times. He’s a nice guy. But that won’t really matter on the court.”
Even Courier had given up trying to help by this stage.
“You just keep digging a hole my man. You just keep digging.”
Updates
Gavrilova sets up Barty blockbuster
Daria Gavrilova has made it an even more impressive day for Australia and set up a blockbuster second round clash in the process.
Gavrilova defeated Sara Sorribes Tormo in straight sets 6-1 7-5.
She will now take on world No.1 Ash Barty on Thursday.
‘I can just leave’: Was this Open’s most awkward interview?
On the court Stefanos Tsitsipas couldn’t have been more impressive in his opening round win over Gilles Simon.
However, things took an awkward turn during the post-match interview, which is an early favourite to be the strangest of the tournament.
Asked about his performance by commentator Jim Courier, Tsitsipas wasn’t short on positivity.
Courier began, “Stefanos, Gilles Simon has been around in the top hundred for 15 years. He’s been as high as six in the world, a high quality difficult opponent to play and yet you dominated the scoreboard tonight. Were you surprised at the scoreline?
To which Tsitsipas replied, “I don’t know. Well, I don’t know what to say. I obviously wasn’t expecting it to come so easy. It was a great match from my side.”
The crowd reacted mostly with laughs, leaving the Greek star wondering what he had done wrong.
“Oh my god, I feel like I messed it up already. I think I played a great, spectacular match from the beginning until the end.”
That led to more laughs, to which he finally said to the crowd, “What am I doing here?”
“I don’t know what his (Simon’s) tactic was. I can just leave if you want me to? That was the last thing I was expecting. To play at Rod Laver and everyone laughing at me.”
Even Courier weighed in on the uneasy interview.
“You’re looking comfortable for sure out here. Except for this interview. It is really awkward.”
Tsitsipas will take on Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis in his second round match.
He didn’t do a great job of winning back the crowd back when asked about the clash.
“I know Thanasi for a long time. We’ve practised a couple of times. He’s a nice guy. But that won’t really matter on the court.”
Even Courier had given up trying to help by this stage.
“You just keep digging a hole my man. You just keep digging.”
Tsitsipas blasts through opening round
Stefanos Tsitsipas does his best to emulate the work of Ash Barty, racing through his opening match 6-1 6-2 6-1.
I wouldn’t say it has been a night of classics. But it has been high level tennis from the winners.
Get the popcorn ready for this one. Tsitsipas will take on Thanasi Kokkinakis in Round 2.
'It’s just kind of a joke of preparation'
Tennys Sandgren was a vocal critic of the hotel quarantine before the Australian Open.
And he didn’t hide his feelings when asked about his preparations after his first round exit.
“How would you imagine prepping for a hot kind of muggy day, three-out-of-five sets against a player like that, that calibre, when you can’t play tennis? You can’t go outside? You can’t. It’s impossible. It’s impossible,” he said.
“So I played last week’s event, which probably wasn’t a good idea. It wasn’t hot, it was very mild conditions, and I played two hard three-set matches and I’ve never been more sore in my life after the second round.
“I took two days off because I couldn’t walk, and then I hit a couple times before today. I mean, it’s just kind of a joke of preparation. But yeah. What are you going to do?”
Sam Stosur has spoken after her win against Destanee Aiava.
“Unfortunately the luck of the draw sometimes playing a fellow Aussie,” she said.
“But, you know, I'm really happy to get through tonight's match, very happy with the way I played.
“And, yeah, moving on to the second round for the first time in a while. So it's exciting for me.
“I actually felt pretty good. You know, obviously we both losing serve the first four times or whatever it was, but it felt like it was kind of the easy shots letting me down.
“So I will start making those and if I started winning the first point of the game occasionally, then I kind of felt like I was going to be able to hold serve. That’s just kind of the mindset and what I was trying to go into each one.
“Then thankfully serving for the set I was able to get myself out of a bit of a hole with some good serves and then get that and then held a lot more easily throughout that second set.
“Look, there were certainly some ups and downs and some shots I wish were better but that's part and parcel with playing tennis and all that. So, yeah, look, a win is a win.”
It isn’t exactly a night for classics here at the Open.
After Ash Barty’s 6-0 6-0 effort, Stefanos Tsitsipas is following suit on Rod Laver.
He has raced to a 5-1 lead over Gilles Simon. The broadcasters might need to find a movie to show if this one keeps pace.
Kokkinakis joins Aussie hot streak
Joe Barton
Up until this summer, Thanasi Kokkinakis has had more injuries to have ruled him out of Australian Opens than he’s enjoyed wins at Melbourne Park.
But on Tuesday night, he put it all together in a straight sets beatdown of South Korean Kwon Soonwoo – putting on a clinic to light a fire under his Open campaign.
As the night cooled and the match went on, Kokkinakis grew into his performance: 6-4 6-1 6-1 in a mere 93 minutes.
It’s just the third time – and first since 2015 – Kokkinakis has seen the second round at an Australian Open, and he faces a mouthwatering showdown with either Greek fan favourite, and fifth seed, Stefanos Tsitsipas or wily French veteran Gilles Simon.
Now this is a stat!
Danka Kovinic spent 20,160 minutes in Hotel Quarantine to play 44 minutes of tennis. #ausopen #AO2021
— Sam Landsberger 🗯 (@SamLandsberger) February 9, 2021
Result: Stosur wins 6-4 6-4
Another Aussie is through to the second round.
Sam Stosur has defeated Destanee Aiava in straight sets, 6-4 6-4.
Unlike Barty, there was nothing easy about this one though.
Stosur and Aiava traded 12 breaks of serve including the opening nine of the match.
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