Stefanos Tsitsipas: 'I admire consistency of Djokovic, Federer and Nadal'
The 20-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas has been one of the players of the season so far, reaching the semi-final of the Australian Open and winning the title in Marseille before competing in the final of Dubai that secured the place in the top-10 for him! Already playing 20 matches on the Tour in 2019, Tsitsipas is second on the ATP Race list behind Novak Djokovic although he will not be able to add more points to his tally at Indian Wells, losing to Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 6-2 in an hour and 17 minutes. The Greek played way below his usual level, wasting all the chances on the return and failing to match Felix's pace from the baseline and hitting the exit door to get a few days off before heading to Miami.
Stefanos admitted he had played a lot of tennis this year and that he needs a break from tennis, taking some time off the court to charge batteries and get back stronger in Miami. Also, Stefanos appreciated the consistency of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer who are capable of delivering their best tennis at every tournament.
"I mean, my mind at the moment is not very fresh. I feel like I had enough of tennis already but that still doesn't mean anything. Felix deserved that victory, he won it by himself, I didn't give it to him. But me, I mean, myself I would say that just so much tennis that when you do the same thing over and over again, your mind gets so tired and you're not the same focused like before. And unfortunately, it happened here. I think taking some small break before Miami will probably help. But, I mean, I'm a bit disappointed because I wanted to do well here. It's a nice place to get some good results and play well.
Felix knew what to expect from the conditions, he was very well prepared for this match, hitting very hard, staying close from the baseline. And the balls were really.. I mean, I've been struggling. I've been practicing already five, six days and still couldn't adjust to the balls, which are very.. they seemed to be a little bit out of control. When you hit, sometimes they fly a bit too much. Sometimes they don't fly at all. So it's a long time that I played with that tempo, so it takes quite some time to adjust to those balls. Maybe disconnect a bit from the sport and do something else, not even watch it at all, that would help.
In our level of game, sometimes.. I mean, in other jobs as well, when you do something, you know, with a lot of intensity and a lot of focus and a lot of will, sometimes your mind cannot keep up and you get tired. You cannot do the same thing over and over again. And that's why I admire the players like Djokovic. Federer, and Nadal. They seem to be so consistent in all they're doing, probably mix it up. That's the only solution, to be consistent. Don't do the same thing. Just maybe serve and volley one day, the other one you can just stay back. It's all of this variety in your game can probably help you be fresher."
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2Tt9Zm1
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