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Tsitsipas: “I don’t know what happened in the locker room but he suddenly became a different player”

It’s the kind of setback that scores. Stefanos Tsitsipas experienced a hell of an emotional lift on Sunday on the Philippe-Chatrier court for his first final at Roland Garros and in Major. Unfortunately for him, it was in the wrong direction: in just over four hours, he went from a daydream to a nightmare of abrupt return to reality when the ruthless Novak Djokovic delivered the coup de grace (6 -7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4).

So close, and at the same time so far, to defeat a monster, or rather a living legend of the game now crowned with a double career Grand Slam, an unprecedented achievement in the Open era. At the time, failure is difficult to cash, especially as Tsitsipas had already fallen after five sets against the same opponent, eight months ago in the semifinals of the 2020 edition. At the time, he had embarked on a crazy comeback before getting stuck at the end. This time, the pill is even harder to swallow as the Greek has more mastered his destiny by winning the first two sets. So what can we learn from this?

Stefanos Tsitsipas (Roland-Garros 2021)

Credit: Getty Images

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I felt I was losing my tennis a bit, I don’t know why

What I learned today (Sunday) is that no matter what the scenario, for the game to be over you have to win three sets, not two. Two sets don’t mean anything, there’s still one left to go to win“, he said, as if to move the knife in the wound. The observation is crude, he pushes an open door since Tsitsipas, of course, knows the particular challenge of the long format in Grand Slam. But by reaffirming it in this way , he perhaps points to a certain lack of vigilance on his part, from the moment he found himself in this favorable position.

In the game, from the third set, and this service lost after 11 minutes of battle, he in any case gradually lost his dominant position on the court. “I started to play short. I don’t really know why. It was very strange. Suddenly I felt cold and more in the rhythm. It was difficult to readjust. I felt that I was losing my tennis a little bit. I wish I could understand why things like this happen. It’s very unhappy and sad because I had a good opportunity to do better“, he still analyzed.

The thesis of physical collapse dismissed

So perhaps unconsciously, in this famous third coronation, the prospect of realizing his dream at Roland Garros also strained him. In any case, the interested party refutes the idea of ​​a mental decompression, recalling that a tennis match is played two and that the dynamic has not changed by his own doing.

I don’t think I slacked off. I don’t think I changed my way of playing. I kept doing the things that worked for me. But, I don’t know… He left the court with two sets zero against him. I don’t know what happened there [au vestiaire, NDLR]… When he came back he suddenly became a different player. He played really well, didn’t give me any more space. Physically, in anticipation, I found him much fresher. He seemed to be able to read my game much better all at once.”

In a way, Tsitsipas suffered the same fate as Lorenzo Musetti before him in the round of 16. Except that, more seasoned than his Italian younger brother, he did not completely collapse physically, him. Yes, the Greek was manipulated at the start of the fourth set by the physiotherapist, but he did not use it as an excuse to explain his defeat. “I blocked my hip a bit and thought the physio could help me unblock it. But, it was settled later, it returned to normal.”

Stefanos Tsitsipas at Roland-Garros in 2021

Credit: Getty Images

A permanent concentration that is still too hard to maintain

But undeniably, Djokovic did better than him in managing the distance. This change of pace during the match, this way of going crescendo, while the Serbian seemed knocked out. standing after the first two sets, are part of the characteristics that still separate the world number 1 from his young rival. Tsitsipas therefore failed to meet the ultimate challenge by his own admission: “stay enduring“physically of course, but also in the concentration to play at the highest possible level, as long as possible.

If for a moment, however fleeting, we lose track of such a monster, the sanction is immediate. Once again, the long format allowed Djokovic to keep his grip on the circuit and to mark the history of the game a little more. And to think that the person concerned has declared himself several times for the elimination of the five sets in Grand Slam. Yet this is what makes him a legend and which prevented Tsitsipas from entering the big leagues this Sunday.

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