Stefanos Tsitsipas to Partner Nick Kyrgios in Citi Open 2019

Published 07/24/2019, 5:00 AM EDT

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In one of the most interesting tennis pairings so far, controversial tennis player, Nick Kyrgios will partner Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Citi Open. Both Tsitsipas and Kyrgios are both exciting young players, but have often clashed with each other. Their spat even spilled over, off the courts in the past year.

The warring duo took potshots at each other on social media, before Tsitsipas got his own back. He even made some thinly veiled jabs at the Australian, who is never far from controversy.

“Everybody knows who Kyrgios is, let’s be honest,” Stefanos Tsitsipas mused. “I know some people see these things I do as something weird, writing all these tweets that make no sense.

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“It’s not sitting in my room playing video games, Fortnite like someone does. It’s better going outside and creating something rather than just sitting inside playing video games for the whole day, which I did before and now see no point in doing.”

via Imago

In retaliation, Nick Kyrgios tweeted his disdain for the 20-year old Greek sensation. He mostly alluded to the fact that the Greek youngster is a bit different from other players.

Stefanos Tsitsipas, currently ranked sixth in the world, blends social media with sport, courtesy his vlogs. He even has close to 160,000 subscribers on YouTube. Later on, that tweet also caught the attention of another Kyrgios critic, journalist and New York Times tennis writer Ben Rothenberg.

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In a podcast appearance with Rothenberg, Kyrgios admitted that he would be open to partnering Tsitsipas. However, given that they are going at each other on social media, their relationship has taken a hit.

Thought-provokingly, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Nick Kyrgios have rarely faced each other on court. It is also worth noting that both players are experiencing contrasting careers. In other words, Stefanos Tsitsipas’ star is rising, along with his ranking, while Kyrgios’ career is falling.

In the wake of losing to self-proclaimed arch-rival, Rafael Nadal in the second round of Wimbledon, Kyrgios was ranked 48th in the world. Meanwhile, Tsitsipas faired no better, as he was stunned by Thomas Fabbiano in the first round. The good news was that Tsitsipas maintained his spot inside the ATP Top 10 rankings.

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Coming back to the Citi Open in Washington, Stefanos Tsitsipas will be Kyrgios’ seventh doubles partner of 2019. The Australian went through several teammates, including Taylor Fritz, Mitchell Krueger, Jackson Winthrow and compatriots Bernard Tomic, Matt Reid and Thanasi Kokkinakis. Now the only question is, how long with Tsitsipas last alongside Kyrgios?

via Imago

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Written by:

Dhruv George

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Dhruv George is a senior Formula One and NASCAR analyst for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.
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