Posted by Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Monday May 27, 2024
Stefanos Tsitsipas is one of the names that always comes up when people discuss the players who have a chance to steal the Roland-Garros men’s title this year. No, he is not the favourite, and the Greek made that clear on Monday after beating Hungarian Marton Fucsovics, 7-6, 6-4, 6-1.
More importantly, Tsitsipas is not satisfied.
“I will definitely not lie and say that I am not completely satisfied and I am happy with the way my results have shown in the last few years,” he told reporters, adding that he sees that he still has a lot to achieve.
“I feel like there is a gap and I can close that gap even more,” he said. “There are two ways I look at it. The rest is like I’m a late bloomer and I still need time to develop into the best player I can really show.”
The 25-year-old Tsitsipas has 11 ATP titles and two Grand Slam finals to his name, in addition to three Masters 1000 titles and his biggest title, which came at the Nitto ATP Finals in 2019.
He says it’s good, but not enough.
“I had the opportunity and privilege to win the Nitto Finals,” he said. “It’s still my biggest moment in tennis. But I still feel that there is more to it than that. I have won three times in Monte-Carlo. It’s a great feeling to be crowned the Masters 1000 champion, but I still feel like I still have a lot to achieve and achieve in the sport, and it doesn’t stop there.”
The No.9 seeded Greek is in the middle Carlos Alcaraza quarter of the draw, and he can deal with it Andrei Rublev in the round of 16 if the seed holds. In his next match, he will face the German champion Daniel Altmaier.
The city of love 💛🖤 pic.twitter.com/k6jpIjGmwF
— Stefanos Tsitsipas (@steftsitsipas) May 27, 2024
In a year when the men’s singles draw is more open than ever in Paris, he says he’s waiting for a chance to jump.
“I’m just waiting for my chance,” he said. “I’m hoping they’ll show up, and I’m hoping — obviously there’s a lot of hope, and I keep saying “hope, hope,” but I’m looking for those big games that will come sometime this week or so hopefully. next week or next few months.
“I am mentally preparing myself for those fights, and I know that these games are the kind of games that I will have to go through and maybe make history if I can go through them and win and take those moments in a positive way. “
You still see Djokovic as the favorite
Tsitsipas, like Casper Ruud, believes that the top seeds Novak Djokovic is the favorite, despite his subpar season so far. Here is how he explained his reason.
“I would say maybe Novak Djokovic is the favorite, because he won here [three] times,” he said. “Despite the poor results for his team in the last few weeks as we are used to Djokovic winning almost every week – and it has not happened in the last few weeks – I still consider him the favorite.”
