Stefanos Tsitsipas makes 'weird' complaint to Madrid Open umpire after losing set

blasted the playing conditions at the Madrid Open in a furious rant after losing the first set of his match against Jan-Lennard Struff. The two-time Grand Slam finalist appeared to be unhappy with the surface following his slow start. During a break in play between sets, Tsitsipas approached the umpire and made his feelings crystal clear in the heated conversation that followed.

The umpire was seemingly confused about what Tsitsipas was complaining about, asking him: "What do you say about it? I cannot really confirm how it is. I'm unsure." Tsitsipas replied: "It's insane having to play like this. You have better conditions in Hammamet than here, you know?"

The umpire tried to diffuse the situation by assuring Tsitsipas that he would pass on his complaints, but the 26-year-old refused to calm down. He continued to vent about the playing conditions without specifying what exactly he was unhappy with.

"I play clay tournaments all year," he said. "But this... I haven't seen this in Rome, I haven't seen this in Monte-Carlo, never. This is the first time I have experienced it in two or three years. Can you at least tell me something about this? It's crazy, it's really weird."

Tsitsipas managed to improve after the lively incident, breaking Struff in the second game of the second set. He grew into the contest as it progressed and went on to claim a 3-6 6-4 6-3 victory to reach the third round of the Madrid Open.

The man from Greece has struggled to perform on clay in 2025 despite it being his favoured surface. He went into the as the defending champion but was dumped out in the quarter-finals in disappointing fashion.

Tsitsipas went on to suffer another early exit at the Barcelona Open, where he reached the final in 2024. He was forced to retire after just two games against Arthur Fils due to a troublesome lower back injury.

He will be hoping to bring about a return to form in the next round at the Madrid Open against Lorenzo Musetti, the player who beat him at the Monte-Carlo Masters.

Tsitsipas boasts a favourable record against his Italian rival, having won five of their six matches against each other. The winner of their upcoming clash in the Spanish capital will face either Alex de Minaur or Denis Shapovalov in the fourth round.