Stefanos Tsitsipas is ready to defend the number one seed in the main draw in Rotterdam: even for the Greek there will be a path full of pitfalls from the first matches, if he wants to go all the way and fight for the prestigious title.
The Greek native talked abiut many issue once he landed in the Netherlands, in view of his first challenge. He explained: “It hasn’t been easy at all to grow continuously on a tennis and personal level, but the journey has been exciting.
I think one of the keys to things going well for me is that I love this sport. Every day that passes I enjoy tennis more and I enjoy it a lot on the court. I’ve had years where I was going through moments of great tension, not I wanted to play and it was difficult to handle the pressure, but now I feel much more in tune with this sport and I feel great.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas: “Carlos Alcaraz stimulates and encourages me”
At the press conference, the number 3 player in the world admitted that he was very motivated by the competition that is emerging among the younger athletes, quoting Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune: “What they do is stimulating and encourages me to continue improving,” underlined the Greek, who could meet the Italian Jannik Sinner in the round of 16, who is part of this new generation.
Stefanos also recalled a special aspect linked to the Dutch tournament: “It was a great experience to make my debut on the ATP circuit here. I remember very well that match against Tsonga, which ended up winning the tournament, and I think that from that moment until today I went through a process where I grew from a boy to a man, thanks to a lot of sweat and tears, as well as field work.” The Athens native made his debut with Finnish Ruusuvuori on Tuesday 14 February.
The goal of the Greek for the next months to come will be to confirm the excellent performance shown at the Australian Open and meet the high expectations placed on him.
