Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas was knocked out of the Australian Open in the first round, after emulating by of his doubles commitments to focus on the singles.

The 26-year-old was the runner-up in Melbourne in 2023 but couldn't use his experience to fend off a 7-5 6-3 2-6 6-4 loss to American Alex Michelsen on the second day's play. However, his defeat took an interesting turn when he revealed he was suffering from a bout of "karma" after he dodged the doubles tournament he was set to play with his brother Petros.

His actions mirrored 's infamous where the young Brit withdrew from her mixed doubles match with at last summer's . Raducanu caused a minor storm when she woke with a stiff wrist and was then called quits on the doubles, a competition which would've been Murray's farewell to SW19.

While Raducanu withdrew midway through a major to carry on her singles charge, the 11th seed Tsitsipas actually ducked out on the doubles before the tournament began to protect his singles chances. However, candidly speaking after his loss, he accepts his decision is now baked in irony.

"It's quite ironic - my whole [idea] was to try to go deep," he admitted. "I knew the first thing I had to consider was not playing doubles. The whole purpose was just to save up on some energy and be fresher hopefully in the deeper draw of the tournament.

"I guess karma hit me. I was not able to deliver or play the way I was hoping to at this year's event."

Raducanu courted her own controversy after the former US Open winner actually ruled herself out of the Wimbledon doubles, despite advancing in the singles, in order to give herself a better chance of success, given the hectic schedule of playing both singles and doubles at a major.

She was eventually beaten in the fourth round singles by Australian, Lulu Sun. However, Raducanu even drew criticism from Murray's mum, Judy, with the 65-year-old branding the young Brit's rogue call as "astonishing".

Murray's mum later clarified it as a sarcastic comment, yet Raducanu's choice to drop out officially put an end to Murray's career, after he had already withdrawn from the singles and was knocked out of the men's doubles alongside brother Jamie.

A statement from the Raducanu camp at the time said: "Unfortunately I woke up with some stiffness in my right wrist this morning, so therefore I have decided to make the very tough decision to withdraw from the mixed doubles tonight. I'm disappointed as I was really looking forward to playing with Andy but got to take care."

It was understood that Raducanu's team were reluctant over her decision to participate in the mixed doubles. The 22-year-old was reportedly unhappy when she saw the schedule for her match with Murray.

After on the Friday evening, she was asked what she made of the All England Club's decision to put her and Murray last on Saturday. "Yeah, I know. The scheduling of that was not ideal," she said.

While Raducanu's call backfired, Tsitsipas will be also be kicking himself for his decision, yet the future is bright for the Australian and French Open finalist. He has long been tipped as a future Grand Slam champion, however he knows all too well of the perils of losing in the early rounds of a Grand Slam after he lost in the first round at last year's US Open and exited in the second round.

"The most frustrating part about losing in the first round of a Grand Slam is that you have way too much time to recover," he said after the loss in Melbourne this week.