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NITTO ATP FINALS

November 17, 2019

Stefanos Tsitsipas

London, England, United Kingdom

S. TSITSIPAS/D. Thiem

6-7, 6-2, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Can you believe it? Can you put it into words how extraordinary this week, this year has been for you and how excited you are?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I'm really excited to -- firstly, I was excited to be part of the Nitto Finals experience. For me, it was already a big thing.

Now that I'm a champion, I don't know how to explain it. I honestly don't feel anything, because it's too many emotions to feel something (smiling). So it's horrific, in a way, to be holding this trophy.

I remember myself watching this event on TV and thinking, oh, these guys have done an insane year to be playing here. And now I'm in the position to be champion, so it feels awesome.

Q. Congratulations. Last year you won in Milan. Can you compare the sensation? And do you think it was a good initiative of ATP to do this Masters under 21?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Well, I would say yes, because gives me the opportunity to play a Masters at the end of the year had a phenomenal -- well, phenomenal, a really, really good year last year. And I came with a lot of confidence in the NextGen Finals knowing I'm one of the best and I can do really well.

Left with the trophy. Felt unbelievably excited for the new season because I beat, yeah, the youngest generation of players. I think that gave me a tremendous amount of boost. You know, fresh blood, they are always fighting more and they are new to the game, so for me that was a great first look of how things work and operate in the Masters circle.

It's a great combo, isn't it (smiling)?

Q. How has the experience of almost drowning impacted on your life in Korea so you can enjoy moments like this?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: How? Experience what?

Q. You nearly lost your life a few years ago.
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Well, yeah, we can think of it this way. I haven't been thinking about it too much.

I was very close to lose my life that day, but it did have a positive outcome in my life. I'm grateful to any god up there that saved me, that gave me the opportunity to live and be in the place I am right now, winning titles, being one of the best players in the world, representing my country in tennis at the highest level.

It kind of wakes you up when you have experiences like this, as you said.

Q. Congrats. We met three years ago, and I asked you what were your goals. You told me that you wanted to win a slam in three years, so you are a little bit late.
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I am late.

Q. And you wanted to win Wimbledon. Is still that your first slam you would choose, if you could?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: You know what? I don't really mind anymore. I believe all Grand Slams are great. They all have something unique in them.

So for sure Wimbledon is something that, you know, a tournament that has a lot of traditions, and I think most of the players, if you ask, want to win Wimbledon. But for me, any Grand Slam would be great.

I feel like my game is getting better over time, and I believe I'm really close on being crowned a Grand Slam champion. I know these are strong words that I say, but I do feel like I belong to be there.

I'm competing against one of the best players in the world, and the amount of effort and the amount of work I put every day deserves to have an outcome like this.

Q. After you lost in the US Open first round, you said that you kind of lost a bit of inspiration and, like, you were tired by kind of the grind of the tour and doing the same thing over and over again. Curious, how did you find it again?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Well, that's a question you're going to see probably next week. I'll blog this thing. It's much more -- we just keep it short this way. It's a really long story.

Q. I'm excited.
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I'm excited too. I'm excited to show to the world.

Q. In Britain, Andy Murray was like a talisman for us, and what that means is he carried the hopes of tennis on his shoulders by himself almost. How does it feel for you to carry the hopes of Greek tennis on your shoulders at such a young age?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Well, honestly, there isn't much of Greek tennis. It's mostly football and basketball. For me, I do feel lonely on the ATP World Tour, being the only Greek that plays at such a high level. I honestly wish we see more players from Greece coming up who can do, honestly wish they can do better than me and push me and motivate me.

I was really excited to be part of the Davis Cup this year. Something new, something fresh for me. My brother, I got connected with my brother more. We got to talk about tennis. He got to experience and feel how I feel on the court.

Also, Michail Pervolarakis who is the second-best tennis player in Greece, I really hope he does well in the next couple of months, because he also, you know, he was works very hard and he wants to achieve things. He just had a child, and I believe he has a good level to be ranked high in the rankings.

Q. Dominic said he's sure that one of the next generation can win a Grand Slam next year. Do you think that's the case, one of you guys could win one next year? What do you think you have to do to...
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Did you say NextGen? To win NextGen? I'm not able to play NextGen.

Q. No, not specifically NextGen but one of the younger players can win a Grand Slam next year, he said.
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Oh, yeah.

Q. Do you think you can? He said he's sure that can happen next year. Do you think you can? And what do you think you have to do to achieve what others haven't in the last few years, maybe Sascha, Dimitrov the year before that?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Well, the thing that we have -- sorry, Big 3? The thing that we have Big 3 dominating the Grand Slams last couple of years makes it really difficult for us, because someone needs to get job done, like, in order to defeat them early rounds, because once they get deep in a tournament, they tend, as we saw over the years, to play, to get better and play better, feel better.

So for me, that's a really difficult task to do for players, to be able to beat them in these Grand Slams, because it's the best-of-five format, and it just gives them more chances to stay in the match. It's not a best-of-three.

I think if things were best-of-three, it could have been much more different when it comes to Grand Slam champions over the years.

So that's an issue, because they have been sharing how many Grand Slams? I don't know. 60-something? And for us, for the young guys, you know, it's all about time. I don't know. We will have to beat them or wait for them.

Q. Dominic told us yesterday that the first time you two met was here at the O2 in 2016 when you were a hitting partner in training. Can you tell us a bit what you remember from that experience and what you got out of it? And maybe can you give us a quick recap of how many times you actually came to the ATP Finals before you were able to play in it?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: That is unbelievable. I just remembered, yeah. First time I met Dominic was I came here as a sparring partner, was No. 1 ranked in the juniors rankings. I got invited by the ITF to come and be a sparring partner here in the Finals.

I think my first hit was with Dominic. It's unbelievable, isn't it? We are now facing each other in the final.

It's great. It's fantastic. I met him for the first time. I think that year he didn't do very well, but he kept coming every single year, which is a tremendous amount of respect from me for what he's been achieving all those years.

Q. You know the difference between possible and probable? Last year when you won the NextGen, you were probably thinking that it was possible but not probable to beat Federer at the Australian Open and to win this tournament. Next year, do you think it's probable or possible that you win a slam?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I wish I had an answer to that. I wish I could predict the future. I cannot predict the future.

You think I could predict that I would be in the semifinals of the Australian Open, first Grand Slam of the year? I was thinking that it might happen later. It did happen two weeks after I said it in the press. I don't remember to whom, when I was preparing in Dubai, which came completely unexpected for me.

The thing is if I put myself in a state of mind that I need to win this Grand Slam now, it doesn't work this way. Rafa said it in the past: I'm not playing to win the tournament; I'm playing to win every single match that I'm about to go and play.

So that's how it works. You don't want to travel too much in the future when you play a tournament, because it's not always going to go the way you want it to go.

Q. I notice you have taken a social media break since September. Do you think that's made you a better player on and off the court because of the distraction we have on social media every day?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I was saying that to my coach, Patrick Mouratoglou this morning. He was checking on his Instagram feed, and I said to him that this is stressing me out, watching posts from other people.

I have been out already so long, and just having him scroll and see pictures of other people, I was just -- I was trying to not look at his phone at all. It's kind of a new phobia that developed in me (smiling).

I feel like I don't need it at all. It's something that helps me, something that helps me concentrate and not think of too much. I had a lot of -- I have been thinking about a lot of things when I'm out on the court and happened in the social media, and it's a waste of energy for my brain and for my thinking.

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