Australian Open is serious about catching players getting coaching from the stands. During the Stefanos Tsitsipas’ semifinals match against Daniil Medvedev, the tournament placed official Eva Asderaki-Moore just below the tunnel to catch Tsitsipas’ dad Apostolos coaching his son.
As soon as Asderaki-Moore heard the coaching, she alerted the chair umpire who issued a coaching code violation to Tsitsipas. That was a good sting operation from the Australian Open to catch Stefanos Tsitsipas red-handed. He has been accused by players of constantly getting coaching advice from his dad during matches.
It is unusual for tournaments to put officials in the tunnel or the stands to catch players cheating. But Australian Open was committed to ensuring fair play and this is certainly the way to do it. Chair umpires are often unable to catch these types of coaching violations from the chair.
To add to the drama, Eva Asderaki-Moore is Greek. She has been an umpire since 2001. In 2015, she became the first woman to umpire the men’s singles final at the US Open.