	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN

August 14, 2018

Stefanos Tsitsipas

Cincinnati, Ohio

D. GOFFIN/S. Tsitsipas

7-5, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How are you feeling after all the matches you have played in Canada? How are you feeling physically and mentally today?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I felt okay today on the court. I didn't feel that much tired. I was just -- I felt weird. One thing that I felt weird was that I could tell I was not motivated too much to -- but I'm not this kind of person who likes to just go on the court and just play.

I hate when -- it felt like my mind was lying to me. It felt like I wanted to win, but at the same time, it was not like a big deal for me, which I was pretty worried about. I don't know why I felt like this.

I mean, I did want to win, but I think my mind was just off. It was not there. My body was okay. I felt like I could play a long match, but that was the main issue.

Q. Have you been aware of how much excitement your run in Toronto has caused back in Greece? People giving feedback to you?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I'm aware of that. I saw lots of -- I mean, even the prime minister tweeted about it, and it's pretty good to have such important people of the country to pay attention to it.

You know, that's really tough to be, let's say, "superstar" after pretty much -- you know, not that much of having people hear your name. It is not easy to deal with it, but I will try to keep it as simple as possible, not to get too much excited about.

I know I have lots of years on the tour, so it's a good big first step to be in the final of a Masters, but I'm pretty sure I have more to prove on the court than just this.

Q. Can you tell us a little bit about the difference between how you play, how the courts played in Toronto and here? Because over the years there has been -- Federer would always say...
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I actually agree with Federer, because the courts here are slightly faster, and it felt like sometimes the ball would slide just, come to you just a click faster than the ones in Toronto. I believe the surface is much different, and also the conditions.

Going to practice yesterday afternoon, I felt like the balls were flying a lot, which I was not used to in Toronto. It felt like I couldn't control so much of what I was doing on the court.

But it's important to be here, you know, four, five days earlier so I can get used to the conditions. But it was really tough. I arrived here 2:00 a.m. two days ago, and I had to sleep pretty late, so I was not -- yeah, I only had one day of practice, so it was not easy to adjust to the new conditions. Slightly different than Toronto, for sure.

Q. Greek success, now Sakkari and you, two players come up. Can you talk a little bit about tennis in Greece, how many clubs, is it possible to practice, how good they are, and if there are other young kids coming up?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Greece is a nice place to practice. The weather is always good. But I'm not sure what's changed since last time I was there. I mean, I don't think lots of things changed. Clubs still run the way they are run, you know. I'm pretty sure that kids want to play more tennis and people watch more tennis. I mean, people that were football fanatics are now watching tennis and have no idea, you know...

Yeah, it was just a sudden boom what happened last week, and people saw that. I'm pretty sure tennis is growing in Greece, so there is, yeah, nothing to worry about. We just need to keep playing and doing good results. I'm pretty sure that in a few years it's gonna be really popular.

Q. You have a very nice one-handed backhand. A lot of people talk about it and admire it. What's the story there? Have you tried both? Hold old were you when you committed to it?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I committed to my one-handed backhand when I was nine years old. That's when I started playing full-time that shot.

Q. Obviously the last week you had to go through a lot of tough moments and tough opponents on the big stage. Do you feel mentally fatigued?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Mentally?

Q. Mental fatigue?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Fatigue, yeah, I felt it today on the court. I felt like I was not that patient when it came to playing the rallies. And he knew -- he was prepared for that. He knew that I'm going to be like this, and he just kept me in there and didn't let me do my thing.

Yeah, it was mental fatigue. It was not too much motivation, I would say, I would call it. It felt weird. I'm not this kind of person who would just let things go the way they -- I always try to fight and have a different spirit than the one I had today.

I'm pretty disappointed that I -- I mean, I don't feel -- I don't regret anything that I did today on the court, but I feel bad for not, let's say, not trying a little bit more, going for it more than I did.

Q. Your generation of the tour seems to be forming a new group, sort of like the time when Rafa, Roger, Andy, Novak were coming up, along with Stan, Ferrer. Do you see that and do you see that potential for kind of another sort of golden era of very talented players?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I see more exciting things, because we have so many players. There were three or four. And now we can -- I mean, in the next couple of years we can have, like, six, seven, eight players that are competing against each other, beating one another.

It's exciting, because we can see big, let's say, up-and-downs in the rankings, like people, players passing one another. Then there is going to be a lot of competition between us.

I see that's something really -- I mean, much more interesting than what it used to be a few years ago.

Q. How much time do you spend at the academy? Can you talk about what it brought to you? You have been there for two years now, three years now.
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Well, I went to play my first Wimbledon in 2015. It was the juniors event, and we went there before that, I think before French Open starts. So it was the kind of the first stage that we got from that place.

They were still building the courts and renovating the place. It was just a proposal from the academy to come and train there. I didn't have a base, anyways. We just went for it. So we saw how it operates. We liked it. It was easy for us to have it as a base, because it's located in a pretty good area in Europe where it's accessible to take any flight and go wherever you like. So it helped me a lot, because before that I was practicing in Greece and there were not that many players and there was not that much of a competitive atmosphere when it came to practice.

Yeah, it was a pretty good solution for me to go to the academy, and they have helped me a lot. I have a private coach. I have Patrick who has sometimes given me tips and helps me develop my tennis, my game.

I'm surrounded by a good team. They obviously want the best for me. It's working pretty well until now.

Q. You said about the potential superstar status, but how often do you get to go back to Greece?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Not that often. I went back home for vacation recently three weeks ago, and also after the French Open when I lost to Thiem. Before that, last time I was there was in December, so I was away for seven, six months. Six months, yeah.

Q. The end of the year?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Before the preseason starts, yeah.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297