Stefanos Tsitsipas: I didn't lose to Damir Dzumhur, I lost to myself
Rising Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas may skip next week's Open 13 Provence in Marseille.
The third-seeded Greek suffered a surprise round-of-16 exit at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam on Wednesday.
Tsitsipas, ranked at No. 12 in the world, lost to 56th-ranked Damir Dzumhur in his Rotterdam opener 6-4 1-6 7-5.
The Greek picked up back-to-back Marseille first round exits in 2017 and 2018.
In the end, it was Dzumhur who ended on the winning side in a highly-inconsistent Rotterdam round-of-16 clash.
Tsitsipas twice recovered from a break down in the first set but lost his serve once again in the ninth game.
However, the Greek bounced back in style as he broke the Bosnian twice in the second set to force a decider.
Tsitsipas recovered from a break down in the third set -- even saved two match points in the 10th game -- but failed to serve out for a tie-break two games later.
Dzumhur converted 5-of-10 of his break point chances, while Tsitsipas converted 5-of-8 of his break opportunities in just less than two hours of action.
2019 Australian Open semi-finalist Tsitsipas wasn't too complimentary of Dzumhur's performance after the match.
"That's how he always plays. He waits for your mistakes. He stands 8 meters behind the baseline. He tries to pass you. I lost to myself today. I didn't lose to him," Tsitsipas said of Dzumhur post-match, per David Avakian.
"He didn't do anything on court. Just put the ball inside the court. All by my mistakes. He played very simple tennis. Nothing crazy. Nothing special.
"It's very weird playing this kind of players. You find no rhythm. It's a weird vibe that they give to you. It feels like if you really want badly, you can beat them any time. At the same time, it feels like they find a way to do some stuff you don't expect."
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2TIVcjc
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