Stefanos Tsitsipas told the match umpire that the fan ‘needed to go’ (Picture: Getty)
Stefanos Tsitsipas lost his temper and asked for a troublemaking fan to be ejected after she imitated a bee during his match at the Cincinnati Masters.
The Greek tennis star was preparing to serve against American world No.40 Ben Shelton when the strange incident occurred at the Masters 1000 event.
Tsitsipas thought he could hear a bee and attempted to swat it away before returning to his serving routine, but the noise did not stop.
The world No.4 paused again and then realised that it was a spectator in the crowd making the buzzing sound.
‘There’s a person imitating a bee behind me,’ a frustrated Tsitsipas told the match umpire. ‘It’s a buzz right before I serve. Do you think that’s OK?’
Despite the umpire insisting he would deal with the situation, Tsitsipas took matters into his own hands and approached the area of the crowd where he heard the buzzing.
Tsitsipas asked directly who was making the noise and one spectator pointed at a woman in the front row as the 25-year-old turned to the umpire for confirmation.
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‘It has never happened in my career,’ Tsitsipas added. ‘I know they’re supporting the [other player].’
His opponent Shelton said: ‘What’s happened? Are they speaking to you?’
Tsitsipas replied: ‘No, they’re imitating a bee, they’re buzzing ‘bzzzzzz’ – it’s the lady over there. I want her out. She needs to go.’
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Despite the spectator’s attempts to put him off, Tsitsipas went on to win the match 7-6 7-6 to reach the last 16.
Tsitsipas is gearing up for the final major tournament of the year, the US Open, which gets started on August 28.
He is a two-time Grand Slam finalist but has never progressed past the third round at Flushing Meadows and will be hoping for an improvement in New York.
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‘I want her out. She needs to go.’
