Tsitsipas calls umpire 'weirdo' as meltdown highlights upset loss
Accuses official of having a bias against him in defeat to Andrey Rublev
Stefanos Tsitsipas accused a U.S. Open chair umpire of having a bias against him during a tirade in which he told the official, "You're all weirdos!"
Tsitsipas told Damien Dumusois that the cause of his bias was "because you're French probably and you're all weirdos!"
The argument came midway through the fourth set of Tsitsipas' 6-4, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (7), 7-5 loss to Andrey Rublev on Tuesday in the first round, when the No. 8 seed from Greece appeared to be battling cramps and was slow to return to the court after losing his serve.
Dumusois told Tsitsipas it was time to play, but Tsitsipas was still reaching into his bag for a new headband and screamed at Dumusois that he still needed time to change. Dumusois responded that Tsitsipas would be penalized.
"I don't care," Tsitsipas replied. "Do whatever you want, because you're the worst."
WATCH | Tsitsipas berates umpire:
"I don't know what you have against me," Tsitsipas continued. "Because you're French probably and you're all weirdos! You're all weirdos!"
Dumusois is indeed French.
Tsitsipas had been angry that Dumusois believed he was getting coaching during the match from his father, Apostolos, which is not allowed.
"The chair umpire was very incorrect in what he was telling me during the match," Tsitsipas said afterward. "I don't know what this chair umpire has in specific against my team, but he's been complaining and telling me that my team talks all of the time when I'm out on the court playing. He's very — I don't know. I believe he's not right, because I never hear anything of what my team says from the outside."
Tsitsipas added that he thought tennis needed more umpires who are fair to all players.
"I feel like some of them have preferences when they are on the court," he said.
Tsitsipas lost in the first round for the second straight major tournament after opening his season by beating Roger Federer en route to the Australian Open quarterfinals. He said the influence from Dumusois was one of his problems Tuesday.
"Well, it's not very pleasant when you have the umpire give you warnings and time violations and coaching violations during a match," Tsitsipas said. "It can affect your thinking. It can affect your decision-making."
Osaka struggles in 1st-round win
Naomi Osaka's U.S. Open title defence is off to a shaky start.
Back in Arthur Ashe Stadium, where she beat Serena Williams in last year's chaotic final, the No. 1-seeded Osaka trailed 3-0 at the outset against 84th-ranked Anna Blinkova, couldn't close things out in the second set, then eventually came through for a 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-2 victory in the first round.
Osaka wore a black sleeve over her left knee, which has been an issue lately for her. But it wasn't so much her movement as her erratic strokes that presented problems for Osaka, who finished with 50 unforced errors, more than double that of Blinkova.
WATCH | Osaka into 2nd round:
Osaka wasted a match point with a bad forehand while trying to serve it out at 6-5 in the second set, before gathering herself in the third.
Only two U.S. Open women's champions have lost in the first round the following year during the professional era: It happened in 2017, when Angelique Kerber was beaten by none other than Osaka.
No. 4 Thiem upset
Fourth-seeded Dominic Thiem is out.
The French Open finalist fell to 87th-ranked Italian Thomas Fabbiano 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Tuesday.
Fabbiano is no stranger to such upsets, having stunned Tsitsipas at Wimbledon this year and Stan Wawrinka at Wimbledon last year. But Fabbiano has never advanced beyond the third round of a Grand Slam tournament.
Teen Coco Gauff wins debut
Coco Gauff has come back from a set and a break down to win her U.S. Open debut at age 15 by beating Anastasia Potapova 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.
Gauff got a wild-card entry from the U.S. Tennis Association after making a surprising run to the fourth round at Wimbledon last month in the first Grand Slam tournament of her career.
The American fell behind 3-0 at the start against Potapova, an 18-year-old from Russia, then was broken to begin the second set and third before turning things around at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
The players' combined age of 33 made it the youngest matchup of the first round at Flushing Meadows.
Nadal wins easily
Three-times champion Rafa Nadal denied John Millman any chance of posting another fairytale run in New York as he cruised by the Australian 6-3 6-2 6-2 in the first round of the U.S. Open on Tuesday.
WATCH | Nadal advances at U.S. Open with straight-sets win:
Millman delivered the upset of the tournament last year when he beat five-times winner Roger Federer in a surprising run to the quarter-finals but he was unable to recreate the same magic against the relentless Spanish second seed.