Clément Pédron, Media365, published on Wednesday August 28, 2024 at 5:33 p.m.
Stefanos Tsitsipas did not get past the first round of the US Open on Tuesday night, due to a defeat against Thanasi Kokkinakis. The Greek, who had a bright future, is now a shadow of his former self.
From coronations and spotlights to tasteless eliminations. Stefanos Tsitsipas left New York as quickly as he had arrived. A few days ago, the Greek had already not lasted long at the Cincinnati Masters 1000 with an elimination in the second round against Jack Draper. But at Flushing Meadows, the winner of the Monte-Carlo Masters this year, showed himself unworthy of his status as seed No. 11 of this US Open. On Tuesday evening, in less than four hours of play, he only too rarely played on an equal footing with Thanasi Kokkinakis (86th) and logically left the door in four sets (7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-3, 7-5). This defeat and therefore this elimination in the first round has in any case only confirmed his difficulties in this last Grand Slam tournament where he has only had two third rounds in seven participations. Worse, Stefanos Tsitsipas has no explanation to give on this subject. “I really don’t know why,” the player whispers to L’Équipe. “The surface is maybe a little different than the one at the Australian Open, and maybe that’s something that has an effect on me. There are a lot of things I would like to say, but I prefer not to.”
A spleen, if not more?
In front of the journalists who came to collect his words, the Greek appeared very pale, resigned if not more. Apart from a quarter-final at Roland-Garros and a final in Barcelona, the season of the world number 11 hardly resembles what it should be. For L’Équipe, he confirmed that he has not been himself for several months. “I am nothing compared to the player I was before,” he admitted. “I remember myself when I was younger and I played with adrenaline on the court, with the impression that my life depended on the match. And those things have sort of faded and my level of consistency has not been as high. Every time I have big wins it really pushes me to keep going and I haven’t been able to do that or produce that over the last couple of months. » The winner of the Masters in London in 2019 did not seek to lie when describing his feelings, confirming a fairly deep “long-term burnout”. Separated from his father and coach for a month, the Athenian seems lost on all levels, not knowing what to do with his racket. It remains to be seen whether Tsitsipas will allow himself a few days of rest or whether he will want to dive right back into the deep end, just to erase this poor performance.