Stefanos Tsitsipas, finaliste en 2021 et aujourd'hui retombé au 20e rang mondial, a été piégé par Matteo Gigante, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4. Coupable de 47 fautes directes et irrégulier, le Grec a subi une défaite surprenante contre le 167e mondial. Gigante, qui a rejoint Ben Shelton, n'avait jamais battu un Top 30 jusqu'à maintenant.
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00:00BNP Paribas, partenaire des plus belles histoires de Roland Garros, aux côtés des ramasseurs de balles depuis plus de 50 ans.
00:30Je vais essayer de réfléchir et voir les choses qui s'est passé et travailler sur lesquelles.
00:40Je dois donner la crédit à mon adversaire parce qu'il a joué incroyable tennis.
00:44Ses athleticismes et sa determination throughout le match m'a appris.
00:50Il a été un très fort pour moi aujourd'hui.
00:55Je souhaite le meilleur dans ce tournament et je pense qu'il peut faire de bon choses.
00:59Est-ce que vous avez des questions ?
01:06Hi, Steph.
01:09Did you go back to your old racket ?
01:13And if you did, can you talk us through that decision ?
01:18Eh, well, it's mainly of trying to go back to what feels comfortable to me and what I know best.
01:26I had a few disappointing results on the previous clay court tournaments with it.
01:32And I felt like perhaps I didn't deserve to lose matches in that particular way that I did.
01:37I felt like I kind of gave away the match.
01:39Unforced errors were kind of out of control in those two, three matches that I had.
01:44So I wasn't, I might have actually played good matches with it on clay and might have gained on some things that I wasn't able to gain before.
01:54But I didn't have a great feeling with it.
01:56So I chose to go back to something that feels comfortable and I know best.
02:02Something that works and has served me pretty well on clay in the last couple of years.
02:08Does it feel a bit like that at the moment that you're kind of searching for solutions?
02:12And you talked before the tournament about how the levels kind of never been higher on the tour.
02:16And I wonder if today kind of reinforces that maybe.
02:21Well, that's a tricky thing when you have to face an opponent that you don't know much about.
02:29And I'm sure he kind of went into the match not expecting too much of himself.
02:36I think it's quite normal.
02:38He might have felt prepared and ready to take on the match and take on the difficult task of having to, I guess, play me.
02:48And I think, I think he did that exceptionally well.
02:51He handled the pressure moments very well, played mature tennis.
02:56I seemed to be playing immature and sometimes, sometimes during the match.
03:01And obviously I'm not extremely happy about that.
03:04So I got to compartmentalize myself a little bit and try and get back to my own old routines.
03:16The way I was able to construct certain things and not have things kind of flow out of control the way they did today.
03:23But on the other hand, I also have to give obviously credit to him because he made me reach that stage too.
03:30By extension then, do you think it was almost easier in some ways for you when you were coming up and there were fewer expectations around you?
03:37Whereas now, like you say, you're a player that has a big reputation and players want to beat.
03:42I still want to be the best player in the world and I still want to do great things around the sport that I chose to play.
03:47My attention and focus is always to try and improve in any aspect of my game.
03:52I'm an optimistic person. I don't want to use any excuses or anything like that.
04:00So my entire focus is on how can we come to solutions, solve certain things.
04:06It's a constant puzzle. I'm ambitious and I want to prove it on the tennis court.
04:12Things have definitely changed over the last couple of years and I know that I find myself in a completely different position now.
04:22I just need to use my experience a little bit more wisely, I would say.
04:27My experience sometimes kind of stabs me. I feel like instead of utilizing it in a more professional and profound way.
04:39Stefanos, a lot of players talk about what a grind the tour can be, how demanding it can be.
04:48Obviously, things have been a bit tougher for you over the last couple of years.
04:52Do you still love the sport as much as you always did? Do you love playing it as much as you always did?
04:57Well, one thing that I have dealt the last couple of years that I wasn't so much facing before
05:07were the injuries that popped up. Psychologically, they did a lot of harm to me.
05:16There are a lot of different things that kind of came up after those injuries which made me feel a lot of discomfort,
05:26made me lose a little bit of hope in terms of how my body can respond to certain situations
05:31and the demands of the tour that are constant. The pressure that my body has gone through in order to sustain those matches and long fights.
05:43I feel like I have been fresher for sure in the past and I'm just trying to find that balance again of how can I go match after match,
05:54feeling the freshest that I can and feeling in the best possible shape that I can.
05:59I feel like the more years pass, the more I kind of came to come to an understanding of how important that is
06:05in order to go for big titles and try and do something important and useful.
06:13You said you were a bit immature at times during the match. What do you mean by that?
06:20I mean, maybe you're being a bit too hard on yourself, but what do you mean by immature?
06:24I was giving away, there were a few games that I gave away double folds, unforced errors that I personally didn't feel like I was pressured by a lot.
06:33And of course, it's absolutely normal that the opponent will feel great after those unforced errors and mistakes come. I would feel amazing too.
06:43So in that sense, I feel like my focus kind of faded away for quite a bit and I wasn't fully present in the moment.
06:54So I would describe that immaturity, knowing how to handle those situations, situations a little bit more conservative and not so impulsive.
