A female tennis fan apologised after she was caught imitating a BEE during Stefano Tsitsipas’ match at the Cincinnati Masters.
The Greek, 25, was preparing to serve when he heard a buzzing sound around him.
Stefano Tsitsipas could hear a buzzing disrupting his serveTwitter / @TennisTV
He went up to the umpire to explain that someone was buzzing behind himTwitter / @TennisTV
The umpire was told who the individual was and said he would tell her to stopTwitter / @TennisTV
Tsitsipas then returned to the baseline to confront the womanTwitter / @TennisTV
She promptly apologised to the Greek starTwitter / @TennisTV
He attempted to swat away what he thought was a bee, before he returned to his serving routine.
But he then paused again and became aware it was someone behind him in the crowd.
He walked to the middle of the court and said to the umpire: “There’s a person imitating a bee behind me. It’s a buzz right before I serve.
“Do you think that’s OK?”
The umpire insisted he would take care of the issue – but as Tsitsipas headed back towards the baseline he decided to deal with it himself as he went straight for the area of the crowd where the buzzing had been heard.
He asked who it was that was making the noise – with one tennis fan pointing straight at a woman in the front row.
The World No4, who had taken the first set, then went back to the umpire – who asked if he knew who it was.
To which a laughing Tsitsipas replied: “It has never happened in my career. I know they’re supporting the [other player].”
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American opponent Ben Shelton then said: “What’s happened? Are they speaking to you?”
Tsitsipas explained: “No, they’re imitating a bee, they’re buzzing ‘bzzz’.”
Turning back to the umpire, he said: “It’s the lady over there. I want her out. She needs to go.”
The official ended up telling Tsitsipas he was going to urge the lady to stop.
The 2021 French Open runner-up then went back over to the woman who could be seen apologising to him.
Tsitsipas went on to beat crowd favourite Shelton 7-6 (3) 7-6 (2) to progress through to the last 16 of the Cincinnati Masters where he will face Hubert Hurkacz on Thursday.