Stefanos Tsitsipas: 'Fans give us a lot of energy. I'm proud to be Greek!'

Following an opening loss to Denis Shapovalov at the ATP Cup on Friday, Stefanos Tsitsipas was eager to score the first victory of the season against Alexander Zverev. Beating the German in the previous four encounters, Tsitsipas produced another fine performance to celebrate a 6-1, 6-4 victory in an hour and 14 minutes, keeping Greece in the tie after Jan-Lennard Struff grabbed the first point for Germany against the lower-ranked Greek. Alexander wasted a massive lead against Alex de Minaur on Friday and had nothing left in the tank today, landing 45% of the first serve in and hitting two aces and ten double faults (had 14 against the Aussie).

Tsitsipas grabbed half of the return points, creating seven chances and seizing four breaks that kept him in front all the time, giving away only 11 points behind the initial shot and one break of serve that couldn't change the course of the clash. After the match, Tsitsipas explained that he had to give his 100% to keep Greece in the tie after trailing 1-0, managing to stay focused and determined to push the rival to the limits and fight for that victory. Of course, his job was much more relaxed after a pale performance from Alexander who couldn't do anything with the initial shot, hitting that many double faults and yelling at his father who took it hard and started crying. Stefanos praised his Greek fans, expressing his gratitude for that support and feeling like at home. 

"The plan was to stay in the match as long as possible; I had to give my everything to beat Zverev and secure the point for Greece. I'm very proud of myself; I worked hard to earn this win, finding solutions and pace, with a clear plan of what to do on the court. The serve worked fine as well and I played clever tennis, staying calm and thinking about the positive outcome. Our Greece fans helped a lot; they gave me a lot of energy and motivation, coming to watch some quality tennis and support us. I appreciate that and we will provide our 100% in the deciding doubles match. You can consider the crowd as my family; I'm proud to be Greek. The summer in Australia is always exciting and I like the people here and the way they take tennis. I feel the connection with the country and it is like playing back home with so many Greek fans out there."  

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2QrCGN1