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World No. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas recently said the ATP Finals is 'bigger than a Grand Slam,' and his comments have annoyed some tennis fans.
Tsitsipas has tasted success at the year-end tournament, having won it on his debut in 2019. He is now gearing up for his fifth participation in the event, which is scheduled to take place from November 12-19 in Turin, Italy.
The Greek spoke with the ATP tour ahead of his campaign and said:
"It's a whole celebration. The ATP Finals is a commemoration and celebration of the best of the best in our sport. We all gather together and we get to play against each other and focus on the fact that we are the best in the world trying to fight for this mega trophy, which is a grand prize in our sport. It means a lot."
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"I would consider it probably a bigger thing than a [Grand] Slam, honestly. It has big prestige and it's a very valuable asset if you're able to conquer and win it," he added.
Stefanos Tsitsipas' words did not sit well with some tennis fans, who took to Reddit to vent their feelings. One user said that the 2023 Australian Open finalist is 'pretending' that his career is better than Rafael Nadal's, considering that the Spaniard has not won an ATP Finals title to date.
"Like when Zevrev said "nothing is bigger then Olympics." Tsitsipas pretending his career is better then Nadals, get real Tsistipas. In the grand scheme of things, no one counts atp finals that much when talking about who's goat!" the user wrote.
Another wrote:
"No one really knows about ATP Finals outside of Tennis watching crowd but if I mention Wimbledon - a majority would recognize and appreciate its prestige. Make it of what you would. You winning ATP Finals doesn't make it prestigious Stef. Smh."
Here are a few more reactions from tennis fans:
Looking back at Stefanos Tsitsipas' title-winning run at ATP Finals 2019
Stefanos Tsitsipas had a fairytale run at the 2019 ATP Finals, in his debut at the year-end tournament.
The Greek beat Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev and 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal in the group stage matches to move to the semifinals. Tsitsipas then scored a 6-3, 6-4 win against six-time tournament champion Roger Federer in the last four.
The Greek eventually beat Dominic Thiem in the final from a set down, 6-7(6), 6-2, 7-6(4), to take the title home.
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