"Most insufferable man to play" - Fans criticize Stefanos Tsitsipas' near-disqualification behaviour in Indian Wells vs Holger Rune

Stefanos Tsitsipas recently invited controversy during his Round-of-16 exit at the Indian Wells Masters on Tuesday (March 11) after hitting his victor Holger Rune's Babolat racket bag in anger. The Greek subsequently received a code violation for his behavior. However, many fans have since insisted that he just managed to survive a prospective disqualification from the match.

Tsitsipas had been in good form leading up to the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Indian Wells, having won his 12th career title in Dubai. The World No. 9 reached the fourth round at the Palm Springs event with relative ease but was eventually outclassed by 12th-seeded Holger Rune by a scoreline of 4-6, 4-6 in the fourth round.

Towards the end of the contest, Stefanos Tsitsipas put a regulation volley into the net that prompted him to smack a ball at Holger Rune's bench. The ball hit the Dane's racket bag, eliciting a code violation from the chair umpire. The 26-year-old nonchalantly ignored it, though, before dropping the encounter a few minutes later in straight sets.

Tsitsipas given an unsportsmanlike conduct warning for firing a ball at Rune's equipment bag byu/Growsomedope intennis

The tennis community on Reddit has since taken umbrage at the former World No. 3's behavior. While two separate fans claimed that Tsitsipas is "insufferable" and a "t**d", another accused him of resorting to an "a****le move" to get his frustrations out.

"This greek fella is the most insufferable man to play any sport," one fan claimed on the tennis subreddit.

Comment byu/Growsomedope from discussion intennis

"What a t**d," another fan insisted.

"That’s such an a****le move," another asserted.

Comment byu/Growsomedope from discussion intennis

A few others insisted that the eighth seed was possibly within a whisker of getting defaulted from the Indian Wells Masters had the ball hit someone in the crowd.

"That is one bounce from a DQ," one fan wrote.

"Eh, seeing how he's playing, that's one miss from a DQ - imagine he boomed that into someone's face," another wrote.

"Could be a DQ. Tits gets the s***s again," a fan wrote.

For what it's worth, there was enough room for humor in the critique that Tsitsipas received for his actions.

"Glad that Rune wasn’t the bad guy for once," one fan joked.

"Cmon Stef, this isn’t going to endear you to Babolat when you head into racket sponsorship contract talks!" a fan wrote, referencing the Greek switching from Wilson to Babolat for his racket choice.

With his latest defeat, Stefanos Tsitsipas now has an overall 10-5 win/loss record so far in 2025.

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Stefanos Tsitsipas has had his fair share of ups and downs in 2025

Stefanos Tsitsipas has dropped 5 of his 10 singles matches this year | Image Source: Getty

The World No. 9 began his season on a worrisome note in January, as he dropped back-to-back matches to Alexander Shevchenko at the United Cup and Alex Michelsen at the Australian Open, respectively. While the 26-year-old did reach the quarterfinals in his next event at the Rotterdam Open, he didn't go further as Italian qualifier upset him in straight sets.

The low point of Stefanos Tsitsipas' 2025 season came in the first round of the Qatar Open in February, where he dropped a three-set match to a visibly-injured Hamad Medjedovic. The Greek will next be looking for a reversal in fortunes at the Miami Masters later in March. He reached the last eight at the Masters 1000 tournament in 2021, marking his career-best result so far at the Florida event.