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Tennis fans are expected to be on their best behavior when they attend a match in person, but there are plenty of players who’ve nonetheless found themselves dealing with various distractions courtesy of the spectators in the stands—a list that includes Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Tsitsipas headed to the Cincinnati Open (officially known as the “Western & Southern Open”) this week as the fourth-ranked singles player in the world, and it’s hard to imagine the Greek star was overly concerned about losing to unseeded American Ben Shelton in the round of 32 match that was held on Wednesday.
When everything was said and done, Tsitsipas advanced to the next round with a 7-6 victory over Shelton in each of the first two sets, but things took an interesting turn in the second one thanks to a fan who resorted to a very unconventional strategy in an attempt to throw the former off of his game.
Shelton boasted a 4-3 lead and was up 15-0 in the eighth game when Tsitsipas stepped up to the line to serve, but he paused to swat at some sort of insect that had presumably made its way to his area of the court.
After collecting himself, he once again prepared to serve before stopping yet again and heading over to the umpire’s chair, where he informed the official overseeing the match, “There’s a person imitating a bee behind me. It’s a buzz right before I serve. Do you think that’s OK?”
“There’s a person imitating a bee behind me” 🐝
The most bee-zarre thing you’ll see today 😂#CincyTennis @steftsitsipas pic.twitter.com/t2W50fvo51
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 16, 2023
Tsitsipas then headed back over to the grandstands and attempted to find out who the offending spectator was, and it’s hard not to be amused by the people in the section who wasted no time snitching on a woman who appeared to apologize after getting called out.
While he tried to convince the umpire to eject the fan, it appears she was allowed to remain in the crowd after being warned, and Tsitsipas was ultimately able to overcome the adversity to punch his ticket to the next round a few games later.