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THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 1, 2019

Stefanos Tsitsipas

Wimbledon, London, England

T. FABBIANO/S. Tsitsipas

4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How do you think the match went? Where do you think it went wrong for you today?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: He was just playing better. I wouldn't actually deserve the victory today even if I would have won because I didn't play well. He played much better today. I give him credit for every single -- I don't even know.

He was just better than me today. I think the way I played, it should have been in three, not five. I don't know how I got to five. I guess with my fighting spirit, somehow I managed to win those two sets.

Regarding that, he was just much more solid than me.

Q. You played him last year, won in straights. Thinking back, what were the differences this year?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I would say that last year his forehand was not the same. He improved a lot on his forehand. It's very uncomfortable. You basically have to guess where he's going to play. Last year was kind of easy, the easiest victory I had in Wimbledon. I played unbelievable in that match.

Somehow, I don't know, I didn't manage to get even close to that level that I played last year. I just saw him a more improved, more solid player than he was last year.

Q. Are you perhaps still suffering a little emotionally from the five hours' defeat against Wawrinka in Paris?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Possibly. It was very, very difficult to overcome that match. I was really disappointed. I am disappointed now. People expected things from me. I didn't deliver. When you get so much support, so much energy, so much positivity from everyone, just ruin everything by yourself, it's devastating.

I should be the one creating. I should be the one just playing my game. I can't seem to find a way to do that.

Q. How were you feeling coming into the match? Did you have any fears it might not go to plan?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I had fears. I've been practicing the past couple days. I was struggling with some things. I never do that in a practice session, but I was so frustrated knowing already how things are going to be, based on my feelings on the court, how I feel, I was very mad with myself yesterday. I did something that I usually never do on the court. I smashed my -- I mean, I stepped on my racquet, which made me feel horrible.

But I already felt that I was actually not playing very well yesterday on practice, so I was kind of curious to see how this is going to change today. But it didn't.

I was struggling a lot lately with my return. I don't know why. I guess something mental. My return, finding the synchronization, and the right steps to get to the ball. I seem to kind of lose my coordination sometimes.

Has big impact on my serve, as well.

Q. Will you take a break now?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I'll discuss it with my team. I don't know. Maybe I don't deserve a break.

Q. A difficult loss today, but when you look back, you'll see you've achieved a lot at a very young age, a very fast amount of time. Naomi Osaka lost today, as well. She couldn't even complete her press conference. I'm wondering if you think the things that are happening too fast to her, they're happening too fast to you, maybe you just need some more time to deal with how things have changed so quickly.
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I don't think that's an excuse. We've seen players my age, many years ago, I would like to name Rafa, Roger, seemed very mature and professional what they were doing. They had consistency from a young age. They always did well tournament by tournament without major drops or inconsistency.

Something that we as the Next Gen players lack, including myself as well, is this inconsistency week by week. It's a week-by-week problem basically, that we cannot adjust to that.

My goal this year was to stay as consistent as possible. I had a great year last year. There were a lot of ups and downs during the year. I really wanted to focus and be aware of every single match that I'm going to play this year.

It hasn't been going up to the plan. I'll be doing what I'm doing, and let's see what happens.

Q. What challenges does grass pose to your game? Obviously you're very creative regularly, go to the nets, big back swings. What are the challenges that grass presents?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: What's the question then?

Q. The specific challenges that you feel when you enter a grass court to adapt your game.
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I felt very uncomfortable. I changed my technique. I've changed my movement accordingly, according to the surface.

When I'm playing out there, I don't really play my game the way I want to play just because the grass just forces you to change. You have to stay lower. You have to kind of make these micro changes in your game, the way you serve, because the ball is sliding, the ball is staying low. That's what I'm really frustrated about. I don't play my game. I play someone else's game.

Yeah, that pisses me off. I had a lot of miss-hits today during the match. It felt like I couldn't deal with the ball. It felt like, as I said before, a coordination problem. It felt like I was lost, going for too much or going for nothing. There was no balance in what I was doing.

I don't know. His ball was really flat. His forehands were amazing today. There was a little luck involved in the fifth set. When I had a breakpoint, he played that forehand wrong foot, which was great, but I don't know if he could do it again.

Q. The net cord?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: It was not a net cord.

Q. On the first break, net cord.
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Okay. That's it.

Q. This is going to be Marcos Baghdatis' last tournament as a professional. Can you talk about what he means to you now, what he did to inspire you when you were young?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Marcos is one of the most gifted, most positive people you'll ever meet. He shows it on the court. He has this vibe where it kind of feels like life is more important than tennis, which I love to see. Some people are too serious, like me when I play. He has this gift, this smile, this energy. I mean, the fans love it. The things he has achieved in his career...

I believe he's underrated. He deserved more. But things worked this way. The fact that he did semifinals Wimbledon, finals in Australian Open, was a big thing not just for him but also for his country. He came from a really small country, with zero history in tennis, with zero tradition in that sport.

That's like to prove you don't have to be from a superior good federation, USTA, LTA, to play tennis at a high level. You probably don't know, but Cyprus is a really small country. It's unbelievable what he did.

I'm going to stay in touch with him. He has a beautiful family. He's always willing to help as much as he can. I wish I could steal his return. If he would allow me to give it when he retires, it was one of the best returns in my opinion on the ATP.

One of the biggest souls of the tour, playing with the crowd, just beautiful tennis to watch. He inspired me a lot as a kid. I always seen his achievements. Made me want to work hard and to stay humble. He's humble. He doesn't have this -- what is the difference of humble?

Q. Arrogance.
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Arrogance, sorry. He's not arrogant, he's humble, polite. He's a people's guy.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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