“I aspire to maintain this state of zen,” Stefanos Tsitsipas plans to carry forward United Cup’s ‘confidence’ into 2023 Australian Open
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Stefanos Tsitsipas (Image Credit: The Japan Times)
After some strong performances in the 2022 season, Stefanos Tsitsipas started the 2023 season with a bang. He has been instrumental in Team Greece’s performance in the United Cup. Greece is the highest-ranked team in this tournament with Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari in the Top 10 of the ATP and WTA rankings respectively. And they have played like a top-level team in this competition.
The Greeks have been unbeatable in this tournament so far. They were drawn with Bulgaria and Belgium in Group A. They played their matches at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia. The World No.4 has been instrumental in his team’s success. He defeated both David Goffin of Belgium and Grigor Dmitrov of Bulgaria in singles ties. He with Maria Sakkari also defeated the Belgian pair of Kirsten Flipkens and Michael Geerts. In another match, the Greek pair beat Bulgarian pair Gergana Topalova and Adrian Andreev.
As a result of that, Greece is leaders in their Group and have advanced into the next stage. In a recent interview, he shared his feelings.
“I wish I could still have the confidence and the composure that I feel in these games. There comes a time when you feel that everything is flowing, that you don’t have to make any special effort to make your tennis work. There are times when I feel like I’m floating on the court, my thoughts are totally in sync with my shots and it makes you very focused and lets you go for the win, without having negative thoughts. I aspire to maintain this state of zen for many games this year. Today, I was 80% in this sense, I hope to be able to find the remaining 20% in the big duels to come,” he said.
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What to expect from Stefanos Tsitsipas this season?
Stefanos Tsitsipas won 2 ATP titles last season. He won the Monte-Carlo Masters and Mallorca Open. He also played in the finals of many tournaments this year such as the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament at Rotterdam, Netherlands, Italian Open, Cincinnati Masters, Astana Open, and Stockholm Open. However, he could not clinch the title. He also played in the ATP Finals 2022 at Turin but could not advance to the next round.
He played really well in the Australian Open where he reached the semi-finals round but could not win against eventual finalist Daniil Medvedev. However, his performances in other Grand Slams were not impressive. He was knocked out of the French Open by Holger Rune in the fourth round, while in Wimbledon he lost to Nick Kyrgios in the third round. At the US Open, he was knocked out in the first round itself. He would like to improve his performance in the majors this season.
Also, he would like to win ATP titles. However, the challenges before him are many. Most notably, the two legends- Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, are still headstrong and hungry to win more. His contemporaries include Daniil Medvedev, Matteo Berrettini, Nick Kyrgios, and Taylor Fritz, among others. They too would like to improve their stats this season. Also, youngsters like Holger Rune, Carlos Alcaraz, Lorenzo Musetti, and Jannik Sinner, among others, are also on the hunt for more trophies. Also, he needs to work on his fitness levels to peak at the right time.
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Abhar Indorkar
(451 Articles Published)