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NITTO ATP FINALS

November 16, 2019

Stefanos Tsitsipas

London, England, United Kingdom

S. TSITSIPAS/R. Federer

6-3, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You called that win a dream win for you over Federer. Is it better than you would imagine it?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Well, it was in two sets, which is great. Didn't have to go into three sets again. I have never played three sets against him. So my previous losses were in two sets, and I'm really glad I played well, stayed calm.

It's a great moment not just for me, for everyone else, my country, my team. I'm proud of myself, how hard I fought today, how concentrated I stayed in the breakpoints. Didn't crack under pressure. I was very composed and very mature in my decisions.

Q. Just talk about those breakpoints, because you were under pressure a heck of a lot through the match and you still withstood that pressure and got through and finished off very smartly.
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Well, I don't really see it as a pressure. I mostly see it as a challenge for me. He's up a breakpoint, I see that as a challenge to overcome the difficulty.

It's like you're basically -- you know it's going to be difficult. I have managed to, as I said, to turn that into a challenge and try to be as aggressive as possible, not give him time, not give him space to do things.

Of course it's frustrating, and I know getting to that point, it's something I try to avoid as often as possible, but it is tennis. He plays well. He gives me a really tough time on the court.

He gets to his points, his breakpoints because he deserves to be there, but then I managed to, as I said, stay composed and not think of too much and just play.

Q. You're no stranger to the final stages of a Grand Slam. Yet after Australia it wasn't too well for you. With the success in London as a sample, do you see this as a source of very important experience for your upcoming performance to the Grand Slams in 2020?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Well, yeah, this does feel, in a way, like a Grand Slam, because, you know, all eyes are here. Everyone knows this event. Everyone who watches tennis knows what the Nitto Finals is.

For me, it's a great new start, great new beginning to be here, playing in the Finals. I would compare it almost as a Grand Slam, for sure but you have less matches.

It's really, like, very difficult to be in that position I am in right now, and it counts a lot. It does count a lot (smiling). It has a lot of history. This tournament has a lot of history, and I'm proud to be in the Finals.

Q. You mentioned a couple of times that you were pleased about how you stayed so composed. Are you a little surprised that you actually kept that composure, given your leadup to this and the fact that it's a semifinal?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Well, not really. I did manage to play this way in Basel when I faced him. I was kind of disappointed and left from that match knowing that I haven't really gave out in the court my best. I still had plenty of things to do better. So for me was a good start, a good way to take things for the next upcoming match against him.

I think I learned a lot of things from my Basel match against him. He did play well there, but, you know, once you get the patterns, once you analyze a bit the game better and know what to expect next time, you always feel and you always want to put yourself in the state of mind where you think that you can always do better.

Q. We have seen a lot of Greek fans since the start of tournament cheering for you. How important for you to see that support?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Well, it's very important, although today I did feel like more Swiss fans than Greek fans (smiling).

Yeah, I tried not to be bothered by this, because I did receive a lot of fan support until this match today, and I did hear people yell my name and supporting me in Greek.

It's important. It's important for the growth of the sport in our country. I enjoy having people from Greece come support me, and I hope they do more often, because that makes me feel closer to playing home, let's say. Gives me a tremendous amount of energy.

Q. You don't know obviously who you're playing in the final. Can you just analyze playing Dom first and then look at playing Alexander?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Well, they are two different players, two different game styles. I don't really have much to say about them, because I don't want to go out there and just say how they play, how they do things, because that's something that I prefer to keep for me.

I can only say that they seem to be playing well this week, and they are going to give me a hard time and I'm going to do the same indeed. So anything can happen.

Q. You have a huge fan base in Austria, I can tell you, and you have a huge fan named Dominic Thiem. A few days ago he said he loves watching you, the style of play you have. Is there an answer from your side? Because possibly he could be one of your opponents in the final. Is there any answer about his development and his style of play? This week especially.
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I haven't said that, but Dominic has inspired me a lot to be a better version of myself when I'm out on the court.

I see a lot of things that he does on the court, and I try to do the same. Because I have mentioned this before: what Roger does, only Roger does. It's really difficult to copy what you see.

So to me Dominic is more, like, something normal, normal in a way that something that's possible, something that's possible.

Roger is an exceptional talent. We all know that. He has a very difficult game style to copy. So for me, Dominic has always been someone that I looked up to and wanted to, wanted always to play with the same intensity and the same will that he puts in the court. He puts a lot of effort and a lot of -- I would just describe him as an intense player. If he's in the zone, he can just create so much opportunities with his game.

And by the way, it's also nice to know I have an Austrian fan base. It's great.

Q. As I said in Australia when you beat Federer, what was the difference between these two matches? And how do you feel being in the position of Djokovic when everybody's against you, more or less, when Federer is on the other side?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: The difference? Well, this time it was two sets. Last time it was four sets.

I can say I have improved since the last time I played him. Not last time. Since I played him at the Australian Open I have improved.

I can see myself more as a grownup now than then. The difference wasn't really big today. I just feel like despite being close to getting broken many times, he had plenty of breakpoints, I felt like I wasn't serving bad. He was returning really well, putting every return back and making me play, which I understood. That made it difficult. Two different Stefanoses from Australia and today.

Q. And Djokovic?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Djokovic? Well, I don't know. I don't know how people react to things. I don't know what people like.

I hope they like me when I play out on the court, because I feel like I have a lot of things to offer for tennis. And I would love to see one day potentially a fan base and people come to the court like they do for Roger, because it's an army. And you need that. You need an army like this.

I want to feel connected with people. I want to be -- I want to be known as a good tennis player because that's what the fans want to see. They want to see a good personality, a good person who can provide for the others.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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