THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

June 28, 2021

Stefanos Tsitsipas

Press Conference

F. TIAFOE/S. Tsitsipas

6-4, 6-4, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. This was your first match you had on grass this year. Frances has been able to play a lot of tournaments on grass already. How much do you think that was a factor? What might have been a difference maker today?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: For sure lack of matches was crucial today. I kind of started feeling my game a bit better towards the end of the third set, middle of the third set. I felt my strokes better. I felt like I was able to apply more pressure and feel the court better.

I obviously didn't want it to be like this, to get to the point where I'm completely out of control. But fair to say he played really well. I wasn't able to maintain the intensity. I wasn't able to put something better than him. It ended up going his way.

Q. On your scheduling, did you ever think about taking maybe a wild card into Eastbourne or something like that? What was the thought there?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Me personally, yeah. I was thinking maybe I should have played the week before Wimbledon, either Mallorca or Eastbourne, I'm not sure. Any of these tournaments would have helped, for sure, get me in a better shape, get my tennis ready for the grass court season.

Q. What particularly do you think Frances did well today?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: He was very precise with his serves. I think he was able to serve equally well both on T and wide. He didn't make a lot of unforced errors. Those unforced errors came in moments where there wasn't really high pressure for him.

He was coming in. I was staying back. That obviously helped him enormously to get a lead, psychological lead, and give him that win. It was enough serving well, coming in. I was a bit more passive. Didn't approach my game with the same strategy.

Q. In your pretournament press conference you spoke about the loss to Thomas Fabbiano here two years ago. One of the reasons you said for that was you had no Plan B or Plan C today. Did you have one today? Was that a factor?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: It was. It could have worked actually. But it was too late. It could have worked. I also missed some other things that I discovered, later discovered, could have helped me. It was kind of late.

When you're two sets to love down, especially on grass, everything is measured up to details, everything is in the details. It's not like clay where you are two sets to love down, it's kind of a different rhythm, a different pace, precision is not the most important thing. You can fight your way out of it.

But I just wish the match would have started in the third set. But, of course, it's too late. It's also my blame that I wasn't able to come up with something, discover the things I did later on in that match.

Q. What are your thoughts about the Olympics? Is that still something that's on your schedule?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: For sure.

Q. About your feeling now, do you have similar doubt in your mind like on previous Wimbledons when you lost in the first round? The last Wimbledon you asked yourself about your future career. What about now?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Look, there have been times that I was much more motivated than this. But that's no reason for me not to play well.

Again, I would like to pinpoint and say that I have all the qualities and the game to play on grass. I haven't had a lot of matches on grass. The transition from clay to grass, in my opinion, is probably the most difficult one, if not the biggest challenge in our sport.

I just wasn't able to adapt. I wasn't able to figure these things out early in the match. Took me a while. Took me a long time to start adapting, start thinking a different way. You just cannot be defensive on grass. It takes away so much from your game.

I honestly feel if I could have worked a bit more, if I would have played a bit more on that surface, I'm pretty confident I would have done better.

Q. You said there have been times when you were more motivated than today. Can you explain why you were less motivated.

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Look, the conditions are the same for each single player. The bubble makes it really tiring week by week. Tell me if it's something surprising, but I feel everyone knows that already. It's certainly very difficult when you know mentally you're going to go from one bubble, being in that bubble two and a half weeks, maybe even more than that, like close to a month, to be honest. Just like two weeks later you still have to undergo the same procedure and the same thing again.

It's just not easy. It's a challenge on its own already. But I don't want to put emphasis to that too much. We had a match today. Had my opportunities. My opponent played much better, significantly better, than me. There wasn't the drive that I was hoping for. There wasn't that same fighting spirit that I usually put out on the court.

But of course, yeah, I would like to see a different me next time. There's always a next time. That's a good thing.