Stefanos Tsitsipas (Image via X/The Tennis Letter)
2021 Roland Garros runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas‘s run at the tournament this year came to an early end in the second round. The Greek tennis star cruised past Tomas Martin Etcheverry in straight sets in the opening round, but then in the next round, lost to 167th-ranked Matteo Gigante in four sets.
The two-time Grand Slam finalist used some interesting choices of words during his press conference after his defeat at Roland Garros. He expressed his current state as a ‘constant puzzle’ and used an intriguing metaphor to describe how his experience ‘stabs’ him.
It’s a constant puzzle. I am ambitious and want to show it on the tennis court. Things have changed a lot in the past two years, and I know I am now in a completely different position. I have to use my experience a bit more wisely. Sometimes I feel like my experience stabs me, instead of using it in a more professional and profound way.
With this upset, Gigante has made his best run at a Grand Slam event so far. The 23-year-old will next face Ben Shelton in the third round of the tournament. Gigante is projected to ascend to 129th in the ATP Rankings, eclipsing his previous career high of World No. 132.
Stefanos Tsitsipas’s persisting back injury
Stefanos Tsitsipas also delved into the psychological effect injuries have had on his career. He remarked that he hadn’t faced as many injuries before as he has faced now in the past two years:
One thing I have faced in the past two years that I didn’t face as much before are injuries. Psychologically, they have hurt me a lot…I am trying to find again that balance of how I can go match after match feeling as fresh as possible and feeling in the best possible shape.
Stefanos Tsitsipas (via X/The Tennis Letter)
Tsitsipas’s back injury had caused him to withdraw from several tournaments, like the ATP Finals in 2023 and the Davis Cup in 2024. He has previously, on many occasions, opened up about struggling with long-term burnout, and this clay-court season has been marred by the nagging lower back injury, which forced him to retire early in the Barcelona Open quarterfinals against 20-year-old Arthur Fils.
A huge blow in rankings for Stefanos Tsitsipas
Stefanos Tsitsipas, who entered the tournament ranked World No. 20, will drop at least five positions in the ATP Rankings after his exit at Roland Garros. Apart from the Dubai Tennis Championships title, Tsitsipas has had a very difficult season, making it to the quarterfinals of only three other tournaments—the Rotterdam Open, Monte Carlo Masters, and Barcelona Open.
Stefanos Tsitsipas (image via Instagram/ Mutua Madrid Open)
Tsitsipas fell out of the top 10 after failing to defend his Monte Carlo Masters title back in April and has now suffered his earliest Roland Garros exit since a round-two exit to Dominic Thiem in 2018. Tsitsipas has not been ranked outside the top 20 since August 2018, when he ascended from World No. 27 to No. 15 after a run to his maiden Masters 1000 final at the Canadian Open.
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