Stefanos Tsitsipas admits that he ‘was not good enough’ in his first round match at the US Open after suffering a shock five-set defeat to a 21-year-old qualifier.
The world No.7 was ousted 7-5 6-7(2) 6-7(5) 7-6(6) 6-3, by Swiss rising star Dominic Stricker in what was a thrilling encounter with plenty of twists and turns. Tsitsipas had a chance to serve out the match when leading 5-3 in the fourth set but failed to capitalize on the opportunity. Then in the decider, he suffered an early break which proved decisive to the outcome.
“My opponent showed better tennis than I did,” Tsitsipas said during his press conference. “I want to congratulate him because I consider myself a good player and I don’t want to be a person that can be beaten easily or I’m giving my opponents an easy time on the court against me.’
“I try to make it as hard as I can, and if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. I move on with my life. Hopefully, I can get better in the future.”
It is the third tournament in a row that the 25-year-old has failed to win back-to-back matches. A stark contrast to the start of the month when he won the Los Cabos Open in Mexico. In recent weeks, he has made changes to his team setup after rehiring Mark Philippoussis as his coach alongside his father Apostolos. The plan is for the two to take turns mentoring the tennis star at tournaments.
After his latest defeat, some are starting to wonder if the recent change made by Tsitsipas is starting to hurt his tennis. However, he dismissed that suggestion when quizzed by reporters in New York.
“Everything on court is under my control and my talents, and the way I can play this sport are shown out on the court,” he stated.
“If I’m not able to deliver, then I’m not supposed to be doing well. That’s what happened this summer. I was not good enough to deliver and score good results. I won’t blame it on anything. It’s just poor performance after Los Cabos.”
The US Open is a place full of frustration for Tsitsipas who is yet to reach the second week of the tournament. Out of six main draw appearances, he has only managed to record consecutive wins twice. In contrast, at the other hardcourt Grand Slam, the Australian Open, he has reached the semi-finals three times and the final once.
“I struggled with my movement today a lot, and it was the main issue with my performance,” Tsitsipas explained.
“My movement wasn’t good at all. Although I did have a match before in which my footwork and my balance were relatively good. I wasn’t able to bring that into today’s match and be as consistent with it.’
“I was off-balance, I was getting caught on the wrong foot most of the time. The court seemed a bit faster than Armstrong, but that is not an excuse. It’s just that sometimes I had chances to hit the ball a bit, go for it a bit more, and I felt like the ball would skid through the court a bit faster, and it had me out of balance and I framed a few times.”
Tsitsipas will return to Flushing Meadows tomorrow to take part in the doubles tournament alongside his brother Petros.
Meanwhile, Stricker has become only the third Swiss player in the Open Era to have beaten a top 10 player in five sets at a Grand Slam. Following in the footsteps of Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka.
