‘I Was Pretty Stubborn’ – Stefanos Tsitsipas Analyses Own Game as He Looks to Avenge French Open Defeat Against Novak Djokovic in Italian Open 2022

The former world no.3 and the current world no.5 Stefanos Tsitsipas enjoyed a banger of a start to this year’s clay-court season by successfully defending the Monte Carlo Masters. Following that, he made it to the finals of the Barcelona Open. However, he failed to outclass the German star Alexander Zverev in the semis of the Madrid Open.

Zverev has always been a tough opponent for Stefanos. But in the semifinals of the ongoing tournament in Rome, the Greek came out victorious. However, a much bigger challenge awaits him in the form of Novak Djokovic. Here’s what the 2021 Roland Garros finalist has to say about that epic final against the Serb.

Stefanos Tsitsipas Shares His Thoughts Before the Clash With Djokovic

Tsitsipas, while addressing the press, spoke about the upcoming match against the 20- time Grand Slam champion as he said, “There are a lot of lessons from all those matches against great players. You have very little margin when you play against them. When it comes to accuracy, decision making, or shot selection, there are a lot of factors that determine how you’re going to do against them.”

Thereafter, Stefanos mentioned the learnings after his defeat in the finals of 2021 French Open.

“I have analyzed those matches. There are things that haven’t worked for me after leading by two sets to love at Roland Garros. I guess I was pretty stubborn that I didn’t want to change because so far it worked.”

Read more: ‘You Find Yourself Chasing All the Time’- Stefanos Tsitsipas on Major Setbacks of Tennis

Tsitsipas Against Djokovic

The Greek has locked horns with the Novak Djokovic eight times in his professional tennis career out of which he has won only two matches. Further, both his victories were on the hard courts at the Rogers Cup and Shanghai Rolex Masters.

Speaking of Stefanos‘ records against the World No.1 in clay, he has encountered Djokovic four times earlier in red dirt and faced defeats in all four of them. However, as Djokovic has returned from a long break and is still trying to reclaim his peak form and endurance, there are chances that Tsitsipas might get the better of him in the finals of the Italian Open.

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While Novak will focus on winning his first title of this season, Tsitsipas will look forward to avenging his Roland Garros defeat at centre court on Sunday.