Madrid (Spain) – Next rival of Ceará’s Thiago Monteiro at the Masters 1000 in Madrid, the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas is having a great time on the circuit and arrives to compete at Caixa Mágica motivated after two consecutive finals, with the title at the Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo and runner-up in the ATP 500 from Barcelona. Optimistic, he hopes to maintain the level for the remainder of the clay season.
“The goal is to keep a positive mindset and keep working hard every day. I’m not going to think too much about myself because we’re just getting started. So far, we have only played two tournaments on clay and I want to do great things here too and in Rome. I really hope I can go far in these tournaments”, said the Greek in an interview with Eurosport.
Tsitsipas spoke about his reaction on the circuit, after a period of instability in the last months of last season and the first of the current one. “I was really committed to just trying to get better. Now this is a good opportunity and the work continues. I have no desire to stop and just try harder. I feel like the return was good”, observed the current number 7 in the world.
“I left the top 10 a few weeks ago, I’m back and now I really need to go further because I don’t want to just be in the top 10. I want bigger things than that, I want to be among the three again, I would love to see myself there. But I know it takes dedication and not just dedication. I hope that at Roland Garros this can happen, but hope alone is not enough, I have to work,” she added.
Memories of the first duel against Nadal
The Greek also recalled his first duel against Spaniard Rafael Nadal, in the Barcelona final in 2018, when he was 19 years old and ended up dominating, winning just three games. “He is ruthless, he has no mercy for anyone. I felt that for the first time when I played with him in Barcelona and he was completely relentless”, said Tsitsipas.
“I remember his energy after the coin toss. It felt like the stadium belonged to him and I haven’t felt that with a lot of tennis players I’ve played with and it’s really intimidating in a way. When you’re young, you’re not used to that feeling when you face someone. So it was definitely something that I still carry with me mentally. I remember that feeling,” he added.
Tsitsipas said it took him a while to get used to Nadal’s ball and it was also difficult to forget who was on the other side of the net. “I grew up watching him, I even had a poster of him in my room. So it’s difficult at first, you remember he was your childhood hero. It took me a few times to get over it and eventually I got an incredible win against him in Madrid (2019).”
Monteiro plays great, keeps momentum and catches Tsitsipas
