AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 28, 2022

Stefanos Tsitsipas

Press Conference

D. MEDVEDEV/S. Tsitsipas

7-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Bad luck, but considering your short offseason and your surgery, how can you sum up your Australian Open campaign?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Well, very happy that I had opportunity to perform here in front of my Greek and non-Greek fans. Australia has a special place in my heart, and I always feel like I'm at home here.

I strongly believe I will be able to do very well here one day and give that joy and give that happiness to share it with the fellow Aussies here and the Greek community. It is a tournament that I very much love, and it is a tournament that I want to thrive in one day.

THE MODERATOR: Questions?

Q. What's your mood about the match? High level, but I guess disappointing result. Where does that leave you?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Oh, it's all right. A loss is a loss, you know. Of course I'm a person that tries to fight until the very last point.

He played better. He played good, good tennis. I'm able to take only the best out of it. I'm not gonna focus on the negatives.

I have a long season ahead of me, with a lot of opportunities I believe that I'm going to try and grab and get the best out of my tennis, get the best out of my experiences that I can always work towards and help myself improve physically, mentally, improve my game generally.

I see today's performance as a lesson that I can use to move forward.

Q. It seemed like for large parts of the match tonight you played really, really well, high level. Is it easier emotionally to play well and lose or to play badly and lose?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Well, I played way better than I did last time. Last year I was completely cooked and exhausted after that five-set match with Rafa. I wasn't able to recover the way I wanted to recover, and this year I was really into it from the very first point. I felt good with my shots, felt good mentally, I felt good in terms of belief and in terms of feeling that passion in the court.

I was very close. The first tiebreak was an important one. You know, I feel like I could have won that one. Maybe should have followed a different tactic. But again, a lesson.

The first tiebreak would have been very important. I had every opportunity to win it but I didn't. I think it would have been a different match winning that first set, which would be, in fact, very crucial.

Q. When he loses his cool like that and starts ranting, do you just try and ignore it, or do you think maybe that's good because he's obviously maybe feeling the pressure?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Well, it's for sure funny (smiling). It's funny. I don't pay attention to the stuff. I know players like to do this stuff to throw you off mentally. Could be maybe a tactic. It's all right. He's not the most mature person anyways.

Q. The accusation from him was that you were receiving coaching and then there was a violation in the fourth set. Were you receiving any coaching?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I wasn't. I mean, you saw me the other day, losing the score twice in two of my matches. I cannot hear anything when I'm playing. It's impossible. Having the crowd being so loud in every single point, I mean, you have to have super hearing to be able to hear what your coach says.

I was laughing the other day, because I think in my match with Benoit Paire, I think my coach was, like, five kilometers away the other end, and somehow I got a coaching violation. I just, I think that was the funniest moment of the A Open.

Q. Did it annoy you just because you didn't win another game after the violation came in? I wondered if it irritated you.

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Excuse me?

Q. I wonder if the coaching warning from the umpire irritated you.

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I'm used to it. They've been targeting me already a long time. I feel like I've gotten a few in the past, and the umpires are always paying attention to my box, never paying attention to the opponent's box. I feel I have been a victim of that for a long time now.

I mean, what can I say? The referees, I don't think they will ever understand that I cannot hear anything when I'm playing because I'm trying to find solutions and try and read the game and recreate the game in my mind before the point starts. Last thing I want is someone giving me tips and giving me advice on what I should do.

I'm not the kind of person that would try and listen when out there competing, playing. Maybe in practice, maybe.

Q. Are you able to identify what you need to do in your game to be able to take that next step?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I think I have been able to take that next step, and that next step is serving without pain, something that I was unable to do when my serve was at its worst few months ago, having to deal with so much pain after every single serve I would hit. I'm very happy and proud that I've gone through that procedure of being able to come back stronger and play pain-free.

My serve, I have been very committed with my serve. I've been doing incredible job bringing it higher in terms of percentages and having it more as a weapon than before.

You know, it was unfortunate today. I don't think anything threw me off except that he was able to really cover the court well when I was serving and really generating a lot of power and depth from his shots. I'm not very concerned. You know, that is it.

Q. Wondering, have you spoken to your father to tell him not to talk?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Yeah, I've had that discussion. I mean, my father, look, he's a person that when he gets into something when there is a lot of action, his medicine is to talk, and you can't stop it. It's something that he does from nature.

I've talked to him about it. I've tried, spent countless hours trying to figure it out with him, but it's part of him.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to keep receiving coaching violations, even though I will never listen to any single thing he says. But it's fine, they can do that if they want, if they believe it's right.

That was also one of the reasons last year I went out publicly on one of my social media platforms and said that I think coaching should be allowed, simply because coaches do it anyways. Most of them get away with it, and they do it pretty smartly, I can tell you. Not from my dad's side, but I've seen a lot of situations, I've seen a lot of circumstances where the coaches would get away with it, and it's a real thing.

By letting it be a thing, I think there is going to be less tension and more clearance in every single aspect of it.

Q. You spoke about Medvedev's maturity or lack thereof. What do you think of him personally? How do you separate that from what you think of him as a competitor?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Yeah, he's a great competitor. He runs like marathon runner, he can run for hours and hours.

I'm not sure myself if that's something that can last very long, having to run so much. Speaking from experiences like other players and champions, Grand Slam champions that I've seen, it had a huge impact to their body. But I respect the fact that he's able to run so much and make it physical out there in every single point.

Oh, yeah, he's one of the biggest fighters, together with Nadal. I guess he's earned the title.