ROLEX MONTE-CARLO MASTERS

April 16, 2022

Stefanos Tsitsipas

Press Conference

S. TSITSIPAS/A. Zverev

6-4, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. Congratulations. How did you manage to be as focused as you were after that tough battle yesterday?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Well, I had to put my soul out there, and I demanded from myself to make it physical, as surprising as this may sound, after a very physical battle last night. I knew that my body may not respond the same way that I wanted to, but I had certain demands and I kind of stick to those demands and made them happen, as surreal as it may sound.

I wanted to stay on the court as much as I had to and trying to start rallies and make it physical. Obviously it worked in my favor.

Q. Are you working with a psychologist, for example, in order to really improve the best or reflect these tough matches the best in such a short period of time, being able to really see yourself at 100% again 12 hours later?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Well, for the most part, being on ATP Tour, I have been working with a psychologist. In fact not only now but I have been working with him in my junior prime years, starting from as young as 12 years old. Yeah, he's helping me a lot, yeah.

Q. What is your analysis of this incredible moment of yesterday night? Because the match was so crazy. Can you explain it maybe a little bit more, all these up-and-downs?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Well, yeah, it shows that on clay you shouldn't be giving up even if you are in situations like this, that things are possible, and if you put a little bit of soul and a little bit more patience and decrease your unforced errors and try and focus on each individual rally on its own and maybe not go for too much and not go for too less but find that good balance, where you are able to just stay there for as long as you need, as long as it is required, that was the turnaround point when I was able to implement that on my mind and try to reduce as much as I could the unforced errors which were coming from end of the second set until that moment. That paid off really well. It was a great turnover.

Q. Well done. Did you think at the beginning of the tournament when you didn't seem to play so well that you could have done so well later on? I mean, were you optimistic about it? Also, what do you think could be done in order to avoid that on Friday you have four quarterfinals in the same court, which means that some match will finish at 11:00 at night, which is, it has happened many times and can influence the result of the match?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Which question do you want me to answer?

Q. You start which one you want.

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: There were a lot of questions.

Q. No, just two.

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Okay, so the first one?

Q. I start again. Did you expect to play so well at the beginning of the tournament?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Okay, yes.

Q. Second is about the four quarterfinals.

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Well, at the beginning of the tournament, I seemed to be able to perform and produce some good tennis. Even though some might see it as if it wasn't my best, I was still able to win those matches in two sets until the battle last night, which there was a point where I felt stuck. I felt like nothing really was working the way I wanted to.

But then I recalibrate, put my mind back to work, worked harder, and made that unbelievable comeback.

I wanted to say also, expecting the quarterfinals, I have experienced and encountered that before, playing late matches. You never know what can happen. I mean, in Grand Slams you have that in best-of-five.

Q. One day off?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: You do. But you could have, I don't know how many matches you have in a Grand Slam, if it's best-of-five, it could really go late.

I have never really played that late I think on the clay season so far. Might have been Madrid, without being sure. I'm not sure. But tennis at night is different than tennis during the day. I will tell you that. It's very different.

Q. In what sense?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: You are dealing with less changes of the sun, of the light. You have obviously the lights, artificial lights, which are way more consistent, I would say.

Sometimes there is a cleaner game during the night, I feel like. Bigger rallies because conditions are consistent. There is not much of shadows, shadows being on the court or the sun hitting you on the face.

So it probably makes for the best tennis, I think.

Q. Well done. Last night you won a very challenging match, a historic one, actually. Then today you have made your head-to-head record with a player who has been one of the most successful ones in the past years even better, and tomorrow you are in a position to defend your Masters title. Does all of this allow you to have, say, like a broader outlook to think further than the next tournament when it comes to this season? Do you have like courage to say, Okay, this season is going to be very, very special for me?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Yes, it's in the back of my mind, and I really want it to happen. Focusing on the long run, focusing on the long run, have tournaments that I will have to really put my best and my greatest to verify again that I'm able to compete at this level, at the highest, and nothing is really -- every single one of them is me proving that I can still be there and still do better than before.

So every day is a challenge. In fact, it never really changes. Even if I do great, I still need to show up on the court tomorrow to prove that I have the capacity to perform, and nothing is accidental. That is the motivation for me.

You know, it's obviously a challenging one, which requires lots of practice, lots of repetitive work. But this season I feel like if I learn from my maybe past mistakes and if I reflect on those mistakes and use them with wisdom inside, I can really take the most out of the season and make it the greatest that I have had.