Stefanos Tsitsipas is looking to continue his evolution as a tennis player as he exited the Australian Open.
Last year’s finalist is out of this year’s tournament after his fourth round defeat to world number 12 Taylor Fritz.
Tsitsipas lost 7-6(3) 5-7 6-3 6-3 in a match that lasted three hours and four minutes as Fritz will now play Djokovic in the quarter-finals.
A disappointing defeat for Tsitsipas who will now lose a handful of ranking points as he will now reflect on the future.
Before doing that, Tsitsipas commented on the match and spoke about how he wish there were more rallies in the match, “I wish there was much more play involved. I felt like at times there were certain gaps during the match where it was purely just serve and not much to it,” Tsitsipas said in his press conference.
“I just wish I could rally and create points, get to sort of discover what works best for me through rallies, exchanges. That kind of threw me off a little bit. There wasn’t much that I could mentally work for and visualize when I was playing the match, because it was just a serve, it was a great return.
“It was that kind of a match. I wish I was able to find a way to get into those rallies more and kind of get the momentum shifting by winning rallies instead of just sort of defending my way through.”
There were 25 aces in the match as Tsitsipas committed seven double faults during the match.
Despite a tough defeat, it was a disappointing tournament for Tsitsipas who is yet to prove why he should be considered a Grand Slam contender.
Reflecting on his latest setback Tsitsipas said it would take him a few days to let the loss sink in and said that results like these are a normal part of the evolution of a tennis player, “I would probably say a few days. For sure less than a week,” Tsitsipas said.
“I’ll take the time to reflect. I’ll take the time to visualize better next time I face against him, to allow myself to have all these emotions sink in and be part of my past, be part of my journey on the tennis court.
“It’s not a negative feeling. It’s a feeling of evolution, of change, which is constant. Change is always constant. One day you’re in the top 10, the other day you’re not there anymore, so you have to keep on working and allowing yourself to flourish through these experiences, allow yourself to sort of seek for all these moments that have been working for you over the last few years, give it another shot time after time.
“It’s painful, and the moments of glory are not that many. There’s just way more moments in your career that are painful and tough to deal with, suffering and all that stuff, than moments of glory and success and opening champagne bottles. These are a very small percentage of what a tennis player lives on a yearly basis.”
An incredible perspective from Tsitsipas as he will hope the rest of the 2024 season will bring more joy and success.
It’s unclear what Tsitsipas’ next tournament may be although it wouldn’t be surprising if he took a wildcard to the ATP 500 event in Rotterdam, which starts on the 12th February.
