Tsitsipas laughs off temper tantrum, looks towards Aussie Open

Stefanos Tsitsipas has laughed off a temper tantrum that saw him clip his father's arm while smashing a racquet, and said he is feeling "good with his game" heading into the Australian Open.

The hot-headed world number six lost his temper after dropping the first set to temperamental Australian Nick Kyrgios, who was on his best behaviour, at the ATP Cup on Tuesday evening on his way to defeat.

He slammed his racquet into the Greek team bench, where his father and captain Apostolos Tsitsipas was sitting, catching him on the forearm.

It left his dad bleeding from a small cut, with his mother coming down from the stands to give him a talking to.

"It happened accidentally. I didn't mean to do it and straight away forgot about it and moved on from there," the 21-year-old said in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

"It happens. I wasn't aiming to do that, so it's just it went out of control, unfortunately."
Asked if he will be punished by his parents, he joked: "Maybe I'll stay in my room for three days, grounded by my father."
"Sometimes I feel like I get too passive and I'm not really into the match, which, I don't know, probably a few technical issues that I have to work on and not to think too much of my technique and work on my tactics more."