Stefanos Tsitsipas concedes that he wasn’t ‘100% ready’ to play his opening match at the Madrid Masters after crashing out of the tournament on Saturday.
The Greek sixth seed was outplayed by world No.118 Thiago Monteiro who produced a solid display to claim a surprise 6-4, 6-4, victory at the Caja Magica. It is the second time this season Tsitsipas has been beaten by a player outside the world’s top 100. The first player to do so was Denis Shapovalov in Miami.
“I had a very good opponent on the other side of the net. He was coming up with great shots and punishing me every single time I played short. I didn’t manage to get the depth of the court.” Tsitsipas said afterwards.
“I just wish I was able to return the way I did in the last game (of the match). I felt out of rhythm the entire match on my returns. I felt very disbalanced and my body was going all over the place.”
Tsitsipas’ early exit from Madrid comes after a strong start to the European clay swing. He claimed his 11th Tour title at the Monte Carlo Masters before reaching the final in Barcelona the following week. In both of those finals, he played against Casper Ruud.
Whilst he was reluctant to take credit away from the performance of his opponent, the 25-year-old hinted that he wasn’t fully ready to play. Something that could be linked to the amount of matches he has played recently.
“It’s not a great feeling but I have to accept it and move on.” He said.
“I was not perhaps 100% ready for this match, and my opponent was 100% ready. Therefore, he walked away with the victory. He was just much more there. His senses were more present and he prevailed.
“I saw a few improvements that I managed to make throughout the match. They were quite late. They came quite late during the match. But I think I try and understand from these improvements that I made and reinforce them next time I step out on the court.”
Tsitsipas will be hoping to bounce back at the Italian Open which is the last Masters event to take place before next month’s French Open. He reached the final in Roland Garos back in 2021.
“I have to keep on working for the (ranking) points because I really want to get out on the court to fight for the points that I feel belong to me. And of course, reach new heights in terms of my ranking and my performance this season.” He concluded.
Meanwhile, Brazil’s Monteiro will next take on 30th seed Jiri Lehecka who beat qualifier Hamad Medjedovic 7-5, 6-4, earlier in the day.
