Stefanos Tsitsipas admits ‘I wasn’t sure how I’d wake up’ in brutally honest interview | Tennis | Sport

Stefanos Tsitsipas is back into the last 16 of a Masters 1000 event for the first time in more than a year. The Greek star has finally found some much-needed form at the Madrid Open, and will face reigning champion Casper Ruud for a place in the quarter-finals. The last time Tsitsipas got this far at a Masters 1000 came last year in Monte Carlo.

Then, a back injury threatened to ruin his career. He retired in the first round of Wimbledon, and then didn’t play an official match from September until January. Tsitsipas has now revealed that the injury robbed him of his joy on the court, and ran through his mind all day every day, as he questioned whether he’d continue waking up in pain.

“When I was injured I lost passion and love for the game. I kept showing up though. Despite my injury in the back, I kept showing up on court and trying to make the most out of it,” Tsitsipas said after reaching the fourth round in Madrid.

“It’s frustrating when you’re always injured and you’re always feeling hurt. It doesn’t make you love the game too much. I can finally kind of say that, going back into the court now, it feels a really joyful thing to do. Like, there isn’t much of stress whether I’m going to be fit enough because of my back.”

For Tsitsipas, that hadn’t been the case for a long time. “Before it used to occupy my mind 24/7. From the moment I woke up until the very night, I wasn’t sure if I’m going to wake up the next morning feeling good. Going with that sort of uncertainty onto everyday life, especially being professional tennis player, makes it even worse,” he added.

Tsitsipas arrived in Madrid on a three-match losing streak, and had lost six of his last eight matches. Ranked down at No. 80 in the world – his lowest place since February 2018 – he battled back from a break down to beat lucky loser Patrick Kypson 3-6 7-6(6) 7-6(4) in the first round, avoiding another early exit.

Afterwards, he looked to be blinking back tears as he opened up on his recent poor run of form. “It’s exhausting,” Tsitsipas stated. “I need a bit more confidence in my game. I think wins are important, and why wins are important is because they start building trust and faith, that you still got it.

“When you’re stepping out on the court, and you are kind of winless, you don’t have a lot of wins under your belt, it doesn’t help, feeling prepared and feeling like you got this to the fullest, to the maximum.”

Tsitsipas has turned his luck this fortnight, however. He stormed past eighth seed Alexander Bublik 6-2 7-5 in the second round and has now beaten Spanish qualifier Daniel Merida 6-4 6-2 to make it to the second week. The Greek star finally feels like he’s playing some good tennis again, but things will get tougher as he now faces defending champion Ruud.

Looking ahead to his next match, Tsitsipas said: “I’m sure he’s feeling well. He’s done well here. My goal with it is to be well prepared. My goal is to go have a good practice, get ready for this big match. He’s an aggressive player. He knows how to play on the surface.

“I consider this surface also one of my favourites. So I would really want to see myself go out there and do well, push him to the limits. I’m sure he’ll be very well prepared for this match. He’s on a good run. He’s feeling good. I’m feeling good too. I’m hoping to see a good, tough match. That’s the goal with this match.”

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