Stefanos Tsitsipas demands Cincinnati Open fan kicked out for imitating a bee

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Stefanos Tsitsipas was forced to start his own pest control operation at the Cincinnati Open on Wednesday after the Greek star accused a spectator behind him of impersonating a bee when he tried to serve.

The world No. 4 advanced from his second-round match against Ben Shelton after edging the American out 7-6, 7-6 on two tie-breaks in a match that lasted 1 hour and 43 minutes.

But during the second set, Tsitsipas appeared to try and swat away an insect when preparing to serve on a couple of occasions before finally taking the matter into his own hands.

Approaching the chair umpire, the official asked the Greek star: “What’s wrong?” Tsitsipas replied: “There’s a person imitating a bee behind me.”

“Oh yeah? I’ll take care of it,” responded the umpire.

Tsitsipas added: “It’s a buzz right before I serve. You think that’s OK?”

Keen to make his distractor buzz off, the Greek star then headed to the stand behind the court in an effort to seek out the insect impersonator.

After interviewing the gallery himself, a woman sitting on the front row is established as the culprit, prompting Tsitsipas to return to the chair umpire, who asked: “Do you know who it is?”

Tsitipas replied: “It has never happened in my career. I know they’re supporting the [other player].”

A by now intrigued Shelton then came over and asked his opponent: “What’s happened? Are they speaking to you?”

Tsitipas told him: “No they’re imitating a bee. They’re buzzing. Bzzzz.”

After the chair umpire asked again if Tsitipas knew who the buzzing spectator is, he confirmed: “It’s the lady over there. I want her out. She needs to go.”

Keen to take the sting out of the situation, the umpire said: “I’m going to ask her to stop,” before reassuring Tsitipas that if she does it again he should come straight back to him.

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The bizarre unfolding of events appeared enough to bring the courtside pest under control as the woman in question finally apologised to the Greek and play eventually resumed.

Despite having to negotiate the type of hazard normally reserved for beekeepers, Tsitipas was satisfied with his overall display against Shelton in a straight-sets win.

Speaking after the match, the 25-year-old said: “He’s [Shelton] still relatively young and he has that free spirit in the way he approaches his game.

“It came down to two tiebreakers and I was very confident if I made a few returns back and got him to rally a bit, things might go my way, and it ended up so. I was tough, for sure. I was tough as nails, and that gave me the win today.”

Tsitipas will now face Hubert Hurkacz next in Ohio, who brought Borna Coric’s Cincinnati Open title defence to an end in the second round.

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