AUSTRALIAN OPEN

February 9, 2021

Stefanos Tsitsipas

Press Conference

S. TSITSIPAS/G. Simon

6-1, 6-2, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Well done. Do you want to tell us about the match tonight first?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Yeah, I had a great start. I think my concentration was there from early on, and I managed to sustain that level of focus. I created a lot of opportunities with my forehand. I think my forehand today was working really well, and I was able to put a lot of depth to it and push him back, which gave me a lot of confidence knowing that I can hit it hard and aim in between the lines.

It raised my confidence. I knew I could come to the net if the balls were short, so there were many aspects that added to my confidence. My returns were -- I think his serves were impressing a lot, and that give me the opportunity to start most of the returns and build the point throughout, yeah, which led to some opportunities and many breaks during the match.

Just gotta stay strong and I think it helps having victories like this in my pocket.

Q. Do you like to ease your way into a Grand Slam like that or do you prefer a tough opener?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: It's tricky with these kind of matches. There's one side to it, it's energy, reserving energy and not spending too much energy out on the court, which is a good thing.

But at the same time, yeah, I feel the intensity can be increased, and obviously there are players that are in top shape right now, and it's important for me to be prepared to face them. These matches teach me a few things. I think I can say it was, it wasn't the toughest of the matches I have had at the Australian Open, but in the back of my head I know that, and I'm going to take that as a good win, because against a player who has many years of experience on the tour, has achieved a lot of things, so for sure it doesn't go unnoticed.

But I look at it with a bright way.

Q. You mentioned confidence quite a few times. Did your confidence need buoying? Did it need boosting? Was there any reason why it isn't...

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Starting a Grand Slam can be stressful sometimes. You don't know what to expect, you don't know what shape you are. It changes. Although I played a few matches at the ATP Cup, it doesn't really determine whether or not I'm really at the top of my shape, and I felt like I needed more matches. More matches you get I think it contributes to my confidence, and I think confidence is great, has made me win a lot of matches. Without it, I don't know where I would be.

So I see it more as something that I need, as an additive to my game, and something that is going to contribute to a lot of wins and a lot of victories, important victories for my career and in the future.

Q. You said of Kyrgios that people either love him or hate him, no middle ground. Wondering if you would say a similar thing about Novak.

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Novak?

Q. Djokovic.

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I don't know. I cannot answer this. I don't have enough feedback from people, and I'm not really -- I have other things to do, honestly. I don't know. With Kyrgios it's much less transparent, I think.

Q. As a player, what do you make of the verbal volleying back and forth between those two?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: They can do whatever they want. From a tennis player perspective, I mean, Nick likes to say things sometimes. Some of them can be true. Some of them can be a little bit, can cross the line and be too much. He's a guy who doesn't really have filter and he says things as they are. I think he has brain in his head when he says stuff, so it's really tough to say.

There are many stupid things that he did in the past that I'm sure he's aware of, and obviously can't deny them. There are a few things he has said in interviews and quotations and headlines that he has created that could be considered as true. So it lays somewhere in between.

Q. There has obviously been discussion around preparation and the quarantine. Do you feel now back to where you normally would be in a Grand Slam or do you feel like you're playing catchup?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Every match is a challenge. I don't know where my level is at until I play that match. I think every match can teach me something, can kind of give me another perspective of me, and teach me directly of things that I have been doing really well and things I have been working in my favor.

So each single match has a lot of things to offer, and I think more matches I have more I can sort of figure it out and see what works for me and what I should keep doing, because it has a greater outcome.

Q. Next up Kokkinakis, how well do you know him and what are your thoughts?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Yeah, we've played a lot. We have practiced a lot. You know, I have known him for years.

He was struggling a little bit with injuries in the past. Now he's back. I feel like he's playing well.

It is a serious match, and I have to take it as -- he's playing at home, as well. So that is something that I will have in the back of my head going out there on the court.

I don't know if he played a lot of matches or not. He didn't really play the ATP Cup. He played the tournament before the Australian Open. I don't know what he did there. I can't really remember.

I have had I think more experience on the tour than him and I can use that in my favor, but in a way, I feel like he doesn't really have much to lose. He is playing in front of a crowd that loves him and he has played some really good matches here.

Q. Are you friends? Do you know each other well?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Yeah, we know each other pretty well.

Q. What do you expect from the crowd in the match versus Kokkinakis? Where do you think they will lie?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: We won't know until that match happens. It's uncertain.