‘Just like Rafael Nadal!’ Mats Wilander believes Stefanos Tsitsipas’ dynamic style will help him prevail in the BIG game
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Rafael Nadal, Mats Wilander, Stefanos Tsitsipas
Stefanos Tsistipas has left everyone in awe of his sheer quality after he dismantled his opponent, Jannik Sinner in straight sets in the quarterfinals of Australian Open 2022. The fourth seed controlled the tempo of the game right from its onset, as the battle lasted for just about 2 hours.
Mats Wilander, Eurosport expert and former Grandslam champion was among the many stunned by Stefanos Tsitsipas’ level of tennis on Wednesday. The Swede believes that Tsitsipas’ win in the last eight was his best performance of the tournament so far.
“I think it’s the best Stefanos has played so far in this tournament. His tactics today were very clear from the beginning, and his ball-striking was perfect,” said Wilander.
Mats Wilander stated that he thought things would get a little trickier when the roof was closed at the Rod Laver Arena, and he gave Jannik Sinner a good chance of coming through.
“Even though he faced a tricky situation when the roof was closed, he showed a lot of experience. I thought it was going to be a really close match – in fact, I was thinking Sinner had a really good chance, and he had no chance in my eyes,” said Wilander.
Mats Wilander compares Stefanos Tsitsipas to Rafael Nadal
Mats Wilander gave Stefanos Tsitsipas one of the biggest ever compliments, as he compared him to Rafael Nadal. Wilander believes that Tsitsipas will become a big game player, and is always going to show up like the Spaniard. The Swedish legend believes that winning big games is not everything, as it requires a player to deliver his best every single time, a quality which the Greek possesses.
“Tsitsipas played an amazing match to me, I was completely surprised. Stefanos is going to be a great ‘big-match’ player, he is always going to show up, just like Rafa Nadal,” said Wilander.
“Yes, there will be a match when Rafa has not played well, but he is still a great ‘big-match’ player. So I think for Tsitsipas, it’s the same. Some days he is going to play bad and lose, but he is going to be there and he is going to try all of these different things,” he continued.
Moreover, the Eurosport expert believes that Stefanos Tsitsipas has a dynamic style of play, and he is going to reign supreme on all four surfaces. Wilander believes Tsitsipas will not be beaten easily, and that he will have to broken off-court.
“On all four surfaces, he is going to find different ways of changing things around. It is not easy, you have to beat him off the court because he is not going to roll over on his own,” Wilander concluded.
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Nirmit Mehta
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