Stefanos Tsitsipas: I took tennis too seriously and expected too much from myself

Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas says he took tennis too seriously last year abut has found a better balance on and off the court this year, in an interview to AD.nl.

The World's sixth ranked player says, "I took tennis too seriously and expected too much from myself. I had a lot of stress before and after the games and put so much pressure on myself. Now I no longer try to see it as much as work, but as a game. Now I have a better balance between everything on and off the track. ”

The 21 year old began 2019 on a promising note by reaching the semi-finals at the Australian Open in Melbourne where he defeated Roger Federer in the fourth round but lost in the first round of the Wimbledon and US Open Championships. He managed to rebound at the end of the year by winning the season ending ATP Finals in London. In 2020, Tsitsipas started the season by playing for his country at the ATP Cup and followed that with a third round performance at the Australian Open in Melbourne. Speaking about playing the ATP Cup, Tsitsipas says, "I try to support the boys behind me, both on and off the job. I don't even know if tennis has increased in popularity (in Greece). I haven't been home that long; I now live in the south of France, where I also trained last week. "

He will be playing in Rotterdam this week for the fourth time in his career and will be looking to win his first match in the event. "Actually, I don't know if I have to include 2017, because then I was 18 years old and I played against a very experienced player; Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. But this year I want to finally break through that series. I am driven, because Rotterdam is one of my favorite tournaments. ”

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/38gAlei