Stefanos Tsitsipas’ turbulent season continues after he lost his opening match at the Canadian Masters. Making it the sixth tournament in a row that he has failed to win back-to-back matches.
The Greek was knocked out of the tournament by Chris O’Connell, who battled his way to a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, victory. O’Connell was on a seven-match losing streak coming into the tournament and had only beaten one top 30 player this season, which was Grigor Dimitrov via retirement.
Tsitsipas produced 36 unforced errors in his latest match and could only win 44% of points behind his second serve. He was broken four times in total.
The defeat comes after the 26-year-old announced a major coaching change with his father, Apostolos, rejoining his team a year after they stopped their previous collaboration. Apostolos has come in to fill the void left by Goran Ivanisevic, who briefly mentored Tsitsipas for around two months during the grass swing.
“Some journeys have a way of circling back to where they began,” Tsitsipas recently wrote on social media.
“After some time apart, I’ve reunited with the person who first believed in me – my father.
“I’m grateful to share the court and the road ahead with him once again. We’ve been through every chapter of this journey together, and this next one feels right.
“Sometimes, coming home is the boldest step forward.”
Tsitsipas is currently ranked 30th in the world, which is his lowest position since 2018. His win-loss record for the season currently stands at 19-14.
As for O’Connell, he will next take on compatriot and eighth seed Alex de Minaur in the third round. De Minaur, who won last week’s Citi Open in Washington, defeated Francisco Comesana 6-4, 6-2, in his opening match.
Elsewhere at the tournament, there was better news for Taylor Fritz, who defeated Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena 7-5, 7-6(1). The 2024 US Open finalist will next play Gabriel Diallo who he recently beat in a five-set epic at Wimbledon. Fritz is the first American man to have a top-two seeding at a Masters 1000 event since Andy Roddick at the 2005 Paris Masters.
