Tsitsipas: “I’m a bit of a masochist”

Carlos Alcaraz beside, Stefanos Tsitsipas is the main attraction Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell-Conde de Godó Trophy for his status as a world star, double finalist of the tournament (2018, 2021) and second seed in this 70th edition.

The Greek stood out worldwide when he was planted at the age of 19 in the final in Barcelona and, since then, he has been one of the banners of ‘next generation’ who entered the circuit with force to try to change the order established by ‘Big Three’ of Rafael Nadal (22 Grand Slams), Novak Djokovic (22) and Roger Federer (20).

The three greatest tennis players in history have slowed the momentum of those youngsters and Tsitsipas, without further ado, is still looking for the first Grand Slam of his career after losing his two finals with Djokovic, Roland Garros’2021 and Australian Open’2023.

At 24, Tsitsipas and his fifth grader happened to be watching as the younger ‘kids’ burst onto the scene as the ‘Big Three’ entered its final phase. There is no truce, therefore, for Stefanos and company. He himself agrees that the emergence of Alcaraz makes his own success difficult.

“Totally, yes. I like the poor, I’m a bit of a masochist, why not? The greatest satisfaction is when you achieve difficult things, right?” replied the Greek, who sensed more struggle ahead after experiencing the hardships of the ‘Big Three’ first hand.

“In the next few years, we will see many different players fighting for big titles, so different rivalries will also develop between us. It is the nature of our sport, there are different rivalry between different tennis players. The rivalry between Alcaraz and sinful, for example, is very good because they are two players of the same age and they are starting something similar to what Nadal and Federer did. I am not going to interfere in that rivalry, I have my own rivalry with themselves, with Zverev, Kyrgios“, said Tsitsipas.

“Tennis is becoming a more difficult sport. The intensity, speed and level of our sport has increased a lot, there are great players out there. You see people running around the court like crazy. The style of I play, my tennis involves other things, but I have to combine it with that fact to help me return more balls and be more competitive. I have been disciplined in the last few months to get to that point”, added Greek.

And what do you need to improve to take that final step and win your first Grand Slam? “It depends on me and others too. I’ve lost two finals where I didn’t do well and I need to do more when I reach those finals. My recovery and feeling before the finals are some things have I was not neglected to win the finals. I have played many finals and I feel that my winning percentage would be higher if I was more precise in my preparation”, evaluated Stefanos, who lost 16 of his 25 ATP finals. He Masters of 2019 and his two Monte Carlo Masters 1,000 (2021, 2022) They are their biggest hit at the moment.

“I’m close to winning a Grand Slam,” Tsitsipas said. “I just want to keep working in the same way, be repeatedly in those finals and give myself the opportunity to fight for those titles. Maybe it will happen in the next ‘big one’, I don’t know, it’s a long journey and I hope it ends it well. I’m working on my consistency to play in the finals again and get good victories against rivals who are highly respected in our sport and who taught great tennis”, added the Greek.