Stefanos Tsitsipas makes OUTRAGEOUS Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev statement after shock loss at US Open
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Novak Djokovic, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Alexander Zverev
World No. 4 and the 4th seed at the 2022 US Open, Stefanos Tsitsipas suffered a shocking first-round defeat to Daniel Elahi Galan with the Colombian winning the match 6-0, 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 in 2 hours and 48 minutes. After a first-set bagel, Stef found himself 5-0 down in the second set as well before winning the first game of the match to end his streak of defeats in 11 consecutive games.
Stef managed to take the 3rd set and extend the 4th set to the 12th game but it was not enough for the night as Galan wrapped up the match on his 9th match point for a memorable win and progressed into the second round while dumping the Greek out of the competition denying him his chance to reach the second week for the 6th consecutive time.
“I knew I could use this tournament to get closer to the No. 1 spot,”: Stefanos Tsitsipas
Stef was one of the 5 players in contention to climb to the top of the ATP Rankings by winning the US Open title this year. But with the defeat to Galan, the race is now between defending champion Daniil Medvedev, 4-time champ Rafael Nadal and young guns Carlos Alcaraz and Casper Ruud.
“I was very motivated and pumped before the US Open started because I knew I could use this tournament to get closer to the No. 1 spot. It would be very weird and very unusual if it didn’t cross my mind because this is something I wanted since I was a kid and I know this is my chance now to step it up. It just didn’t go as planned. Sometimes you just need to let it go, you don’t need to overthink it, you don’t need to push yourself too hard but at the same time it’s difficult.
Shockingly, Tsitsipas also admitted that the absences of Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev put more pressure on him to perform at the US Open.
“There’s this open opportunity right in front of you, you don’t want to mess it up, you don’t want to waste it. My chances, I guess, are a bit smaller. The margin is not as thin as it used to be now after the US Open but I’m still going to try and add points to my ranking, as much as I can until the end of the year, I really want to perhaps finish in the Top 3… more opportunities ahead.
“US Open, I never really had a good history here but I do like the tournament a lot. Just need to work on the negative thoughts a bit more and not let them affect me and not get in my head, because I’m better than that, I’m a much better player and athlete, but definitely not today,” said Tsitsipas during his press conference.
Stefanos Tsitsipas full of praise for Daniel Galan despite injury scare
Stefanos also talked about having some fitness issues with his hand but did not use it to shield his dismal performance and take away the credit of the brilliance with which Galan played during the match.
“My arm was pretty tight, nothing was coming off my strokes. I felt like my serve was very slow today, but it was close to the 120s, so I wouldn’t necessarily say that it was. But he returned great, extremely well. I’m pretty sure it has to do with the altitude where he grew up for sure helps a lot with this kind of stuff. It crossed my mind when I started playing him that might be due to that. He did a great job, he dominated the game completely. I just couldn’t get into the match at all, it was as if I was half-dead.
“He played like a world-class player and I played like close to an amateur, not very nice to say that, but that’s what happened. I was very well prepared, I was playing very well in practice, had some really good matches against different kinds of players. I felt like the momentum was in my favour, I just might’ve felt a little tense going into the match,” concluded Stef in his joint worst defeat at the major.
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Sarthak Shitole
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