tennis preferences // atp players

46. You Hate Each Other At First

Alexander Zverev:

Sascha had been asked about you in a press conference, and your outburst at an umpire that had occurred that day. He had answered as respectfully as he could, considering he didn't really know you and didn't really want to answer the question. Although, considering how fired up you already were from the match, in your press conference that followed, you shared a few words on your thoughts about his racket smashing and outbursts on court. This was a very controversial exchange that the two of you had. This continued for months, whenever the exchange was brought up in interviews, the two of you would always say something snarky about each other. Eventually, the comments had settled down and the two of you actually sat down and got to know each other, rather than just talking about who you thought each other were.

Alex de Minaur:

Everyone will remember the match that had Marin Cilic nearly crashing out of the US Open, at the hands of Alex De Minaur, but the thing that made headlines was your reaction to the ordeal, due to the fact you had to start your match on that court after they had finished. Of course, you had blamed the tournament for not putting you onto a different court, although the way you complained had the media twisting your words, making it seem as if you were blaming the two players for not being able to get the job done quicker. Of course, this did not resonate well with the two players, especially Alex who felt worse about losing the match in that fashion after hearing of your accusation. It wasn't until the two of you were to talk later in the year, and clear up the misunderstanding.

Benoit Paire:

There had been some confusion in the locker room between Benoit and one of your closest ATP friends, Grigor Dimitrov, as he talked about you and your game. Benoit talked to a group of his friends from afar, whilst Grigor listened in, misunderstanding his neutral opinion for a negative one. Once Grigor informed you of what he thought he overheard, from then on, you had acted cold towards Benoit. Whenever you saw him, you looked away and whenever he said hello to you would ignore him. Eventually, after not understanding what he had done to you, Benoit came up to you and asked you why you had been so desperate to ignore him. After talking it out, alongside Grigor, and figuring out what was actually said, the two of you began friends and laughed off the unusual situation.

Borna Coric:

You had seen footage of Borna talking in a press conference, answering a question about your match that had followed his. For some reason, the reporter had asked him who he was rooting for in the match that was coming after his, with him saying for fun that he was going for your opponent. Of course, he was just answering a question, however, he went on to say that he preferred your opponent over you. It may have sounded funny at the time, however, hearing what he had to say about you just made your blood boil. You couldn't help but be angry with him whilst you waited for an apology.

Casper Ruud:

As you quickly signed autographs for the fans at a tournament you played at, you had been asked a question by a fan, asking your opinion on the rising star Casper Ruud. Thinking nothing of it, you answered saying you didn't really know him but you thought that he should clean up his attitude a bit. What you didn't know was that this supposed fan had recorded your answer on his phone, and later spread it all around social media. You had felt terrible for what you said, especially considering the news had gotten across to Casper extremely quickly, and although you had tried to apologise him in your Twitter DM's, he just ignored you and continued to dislike you.