NATIONAL BANK OPEN

August 10, 2021

Stefanos Tsitsipas

Press Conference

S. TSITSIPAS/U. Humbert

6-3, 6-7, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Probably a little later than you wanted to be coming in here. How do you feel after that first victory? How good does it feel to be back in Toronto where you had so much success three years ago?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I got great energy tonight, and thankful to my fans and also the way I fought. It was great.

Q. When you were here three years ago, as you mentioned on court after the match, you had so much success from the Greek fans. I used to live on The Danforth, I'm not Greek myself, but currently you're in the bubble, can't leave the hotel. Were you able to experience anything in Greektown here in Toronto in your previous trip here?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I only remember going for dinner one night. There weren't any other, you know, nights that I went to -- what's it called again? I'm sorry.

Q. The Danforth, or Greektown as we call it here in Toronto.

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Danforth? Sure. No, I think it was only one night. But it's a cute little place with great spirit.

Q. I was just wondering, how do you deal with the mental issues that occur in your game?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: The what? Mental?

Q. Mental aspects of the game that occur in your matches or your practices even.

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: How do I deal with them?

Q. How do you resolve them? I'm assuming you must be working through some mental aspects of the game just like anyone else.

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I guess...

Q. What I mean is do you work with a tennis psychologist? Do you keep a journal?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I do, I do. I do work with a tennis psychologist/advisor. I have known him since I was 12. We have been working ever since.

Yeah, he helps me whenever I need help. Generally I try to find solutions and resolve my problems on my own. I don't want to depend too much on people on certain occasions than I need to.

Q. After missing the match points in the second set, how did you mentally reset and put that behind you and come out fresh in the third set?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I took a break. I went to refresh myself. I kind of put it behind. I didn't want to think about it. Whatever happened happened, and, you know, I don't want anything to affect me. I don't want anything to get inside my head. I just showed incredible, as we said before, mental balance and mental strength to overcome this difficult tiebreak that I just experienced.

You know, didn't go to my favor, but I still had high hopes that I could pull something good off.

Q. The terrible fires we see back home in Greece, do you have any friends or family directly impacted?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I don't have any friends and family. I haven't really spoken to many people that were part of the fires, but my heart is with all the people of Greece. You know, myself, I come from the south suburbs of Athens. When I was there a few days ago, I could see the fires from the south. Huge, giant clouds, smoke, which you could see from far, far away.

It wasn't very nice. Even at the beach that day when I went to swim, you could see all the debris from the smoke and from the fires in the sea.

You know, it's pretty nasty, pretty bad. Myself, I'm trying to help as much as possible, because first of all, it's my country. I grew up there. It's where my heart is. I do it for the people, as well. Helping is the least I can do. It's very unfortunate.

It has happened in the past, but we are trying to put some help in there to help kind of bring back what was there before.

Q. With Rafa Nadal withdrawing from the tournament today, this is the first time in Canada since 2001 that we haven't had either Nadal, Federer, or a Djokovic in the event here. What's your reaction to not having any of those three guys now around in this tournament, which is clearly something that will be the norm at some point moving forward?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I don't know. We're going to miss them.

Q. I just mean in this tournament here, not having one of those three in there. Not to say that if they were here would make any difference for you. You're still going to go and do your best, of course. Is it strange not to see one of those three established legends?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I don't really think about that. It is what it is. I mean, if they don't feel fit and they aren't ready to play, it's up to them to decide.

Obviously let's accept it, because it's a fact, it's true, they bring a lot of fans to the courts, and they are also the reason why people come and watch these big events. Also, they are a big part of, you know, tennis being where it is now.

So I think there is room for new stars. You know, it's been a lot about them in recent years, and I think now it's showing that, you know, things are changing. Things are kind of -- we see kind of different generation of players stepping up and showing what they are capable of.

So it's interesting to have this kind of variation and change of thrones, let's call it. It's interesting for our game.

We, ourselves, we have generated our own team of people and fans that support us, give us love, and are there for us in each single match following us. We want to do as good as they have done so far.

We obviously have a lot of respect, and that's not only coming from me but also from, I'm pretty sure, from other younger players in that category. We do have a lot of respect. We grew up watching them, and I think we are thrilled to be competing against them and against them now in this kind of period of time.