Stefanos Tsitsipas gets emotional at Madrid Open as ‘exhausting’ run takes toll | Tennis | Sport

Stefanos Tsitsipas became emotional after winning his first match in just over a month at the Madrid Open. The former world No. 3 has struggled to find form this season and has dramatically fallen down the rankings, now sitting at 80th – his lowest position since February 2018.

A former finalist in Madrid, Tsitsipas was on a three-match losing streak coming into the tournament, including a heartbreaking defeat in Munich last week, when he blew a match point. But he came back from a set down to beat lucky loser Patrick Kypson 3-6 7-6(6) 7-6(4) on Thursday, finally getting a win on the board.

It clearly meant a lot to the 27-year-old, who roared in celebration on the court, and later looked to be on the verge of tears as he shed light on his “exhausting” losing run. “I really needed that win, so for sure, it does give me confidence,” Tsitsipas said.

“It’s exhausting. I mean, I’ve been trying a lot and trying to improve in a lot of areas, and I had a match point last week in Munich to beat the opponent that I lost to eventually. I was literally a point away to win that match. And now really close again.

“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.”

It didn’t help that Tsitsipas didn’t know much about his opponent, who got into the main draw as a lucky loser following some withdrawals. “It was a bit nerve-wracking starting the match. We were dealing with conditions that are really bouncy and abrupt sometimes,” he added.

“I didn’t know much about him, to be honest, so I started the match a little bit uncertain of what his game style is. Obviously, my coach tried to see certain videos, and tried to gather as much data to see what his playing style is like. But it’s very different, actually seeing it on TV, or experiencing it on the tour on a regular basis to try and understand the goods and the bads. So yeah, it’s always tricky when I get to play opponents like that, because I really don’t know how they build their points.

“He can serve, I can tell you that. He can definitely serve. His biggest strength, I feel, today in the match, he was just serving really well at certain points. Wasn’t giving me much of a gap to attack or to build my own points from the return

“And I think he did excellently the dropshot. I mean, he was a master of the dropshot today. Knew when to use it, and when to execute it, used it pretty well and smart. Besides that, I feel like he’s creative. He did come to the net a few times, played a few certain volleys, stole some break points that I’ve had, got a good feel with his hands. I’m expecting to see him on the rise in the future, because he plays good.”

Tsitsipas now has an even bigger challenge on his hands, as he faces No. 8 seed Alexander Bublik on Saturday. “He has improved a lot in his game. He is a tough opponent. I’m just hoping to deliver a great set of tennis from my side and show what I’m made of,” he said of his next match.

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