ROLAND GARROS

October 5, 2020

Stefanos Tsitsipas

Press Conference

S. TSITSIPAS/G. Dimitrov

6-3, 7-6, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Last year in the fourth round you lost to Stan Wawrinka in a heartbreaking match. You were asked what you hoped to learn from the defeat. At the time you said your mind was so empty, you couldn't think. Now I ask you, what do you learn from those tough defeats or do you just need to forget them?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: That's a tricky question.

Look, I haven't been thinking about this match a lot, to be honest. But for sure it's somewhere in the back of my head because it happened. It's an event that took place in the past. So you cannot avoid it.

What I've learned? You know, I need matches like this in my career. I think we all need matches like this in our career. I'm sure Stan has plenty of matches like this in his career, and he learned as well.

Of course, it went his way in that match, not my way. By that I mean he walked away with a win and I didn't. There is plenty to learn from it. I think it's also that match was a bit of luck, too. I won't lie. There was one, two points, if I was a bit more lucky, let's say, because my skill was there. Just few shots that didn't go in. They were very close, trust me.

Yeah, you just have to look back on these moments. Of course, you can learn a lot from them, but not take them too serious.

Q. There are lots of famous Greek philosophers, Aristotle, Socrates, Plato. I don't think any of them played tennis as well as you do. I would like to know what is your philosophy about the way you want to play tennis? As a deep thinker yourself, how deep do you think you can go here at Roland Garros this year?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I don't know. I don't know until this tournament is over. I don't think I know how deep I have the opportunity to go here. Just play tennis and forget the rest.

Q. On the subject of yesterday's match involving Alexander Zverev, he came to the court with a fever of 38. Do you think that was maybe irresponsible in terms of the risk of infecting other players?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Infecting other players? Was he COVID positive?

Q. He wasn't positive, but he had a fever. He said afterwards he had a fever and a bad throat, that he was struggling to talk in the press conference. He hadn't been tested for four days.

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I really don't know. I'm sorry. I don't think that's my business. It's his business. Sorry.

Q. What are your thoughts going into the next match against Rublev? Just a few days ago you played him in the Hamburg final, a great match. Your thoughts going into this one being at a major now.

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Well, Andrey, we grew up playing together. He has improved a lot. We've played each other many times. I think he has a positive record against me.

Going inside that match in two days, it is very important for me to take this opportunity and fight harder this time, maybe do something better.

I know, yeah, he's a tough cookie, as Bobsy once said (smiling). He's going to be difficult to play against. He has a very complete, solid game from all the departments. He has improved a lot his serve. He relies a lot on his power. He has very powerful shots.

We share a similar game style, I would say. Mine would probably be more like coming to the net, using a bit more the angles.

Yeah, he's a very challenging player to play against. I think he for sure brings the best out of me when I step out on the court to play against him.

Q. Speaking of playing your best game, you had a tough start in the first round with the five sets, but you're winning in straights now. What is the key difference between your first match and getting to the quarterfinals here?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Well, every match counts. When I would go out on the court, every match has its own value, its own worth. It was a very good lesson for me, the first-round match. Obviously you do want to avoid as much as possible situations like this.

I think I was just more awakened on the court, more responsible of what I was doing. That is also the reason why I've been doing so well in the last nine sets that I've played. My game is very aggressive. My game is there. My understanding of what I should do is relatively correct and accurate.

As I said, it's going to be a difficult challenge. I'm not expecting things to get easier from this point, for sure. Every single round is going to be more difficult than the previous one. Doesn't mean if things are this way right now they are going to be a different way later or tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

Yeah, I keep learning every day. I think applying that to my game as much as possible, being responsible, being aware of all my choices and the decisions on the court.

Q. I wanted to ask you about Jannik Sinner. You were one of the first people to play him on tour in Rome last year. You played him again in Rome this year. What have you seen of him, his improvement?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: He's a very talented player, very calm on the court. He has big shots, big groundstrokes. He's tall. Of course, that helps a lot with his serve.

Back when I played him last year, I think he was very skinny from what I remember. He wasn't as solid as he is now on the movement from right to left. That was something that I paid attention to when I'm playing him last year.

Since then he has improved a lot in that department. I'm sure he has put in a lot of work to become the player that he is today. For sure, we can see a great future, see him do good things on the circuit. I would not be surprised, yeah, if he has good wins again the top five and the top three. Why not? He has a very big game, a very talented player. I think he is a hard-hitter as well, which makes it difficult.

Q. We're having a debate on the RG Live at Roland Garros show tonight about social media and whether players should do more or less during slams on social media. What is your opinion on the topic?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Very interesting topic.

Me personally, I don't really use social media during slams. I try and avoid using any form or any app that is linked to social media. I think it keeps me more sane.

Yeah, some of the social media, Twitter for example, can be very toxic. Just too much information honestly. You don't want to be thinking about stuff like this when you're on the court.

I might update sometimes my Instagram for all the fans and all people that came out that day to support me and obviously show some love and appreciation to what I do.

Social media is important. Obviously it's your brand, you can't really avoid that. It is your brand. You are someone who can influence people through social media. The only thing is that you have to do it the right way, not overuse the platform.

There are some debates about social media, as you said. I think when you spend countless hours per day scrolling through your social media, of course it's not healthy for you. For your mental health as well. For me has been the case in plenty of times. Especially during quarantine, I found myself using a lot social media, which is not as pleasant of an experience as people think it is.

Just have to use everything with regulation and not overdo things. I think that's the basic rule of life: keep a balance, keep a balance in your life. Especially, again, I want to say the hate that you receive sometimes on social media can make it very uncomfortable and very bad experience to be out there. Sometimes it's not bad to be silent.