Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas hits a return in opposition to USAís Alex Michelsen throughout their males’s singles match on day two of the Australian Open tennis event in Melbourne on January 13, 2025. (Photograph by WILLIAM WEST / AFP)
Two-time Grand Slam runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas stated “it sucks” after being on the tip of the primary huge upset of the Australian Open on Monday, with the worst half having to hold round earlier than his subsequent event.
The Eleventh-seeded Greek, who performed Novak Djokovic within the 2023 remaining at Melbourne Park, crashed out 7-5, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 to American Alex Michelsen within the first spherical.
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“Essentially the most irritating half about dropping within the first spherical of a Grand Slam is that you’ve got manner an excessive amount of time to recuperate, and I’d moderately have the opposite manner round the place I don’t have sufficient time to recuperate,” he stated.
READ: Australian Open: Alex Michelsen upsets Tsitsipas, thanks his mother
“Actually that’s a lot, significantly better by way of problem-solving.
“It simply sucks in a manner that I’ll be hanging round for fairly some time now earlier than my subsequent event is available in.
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“With my aggressive nature, I really feel like these kind of issues usually are not actually perfect for me.”
Tsitsipas by no means appeared snug in opposition to the 20-year-old, who had him operating all around the court docket.
“I simply tried to remain tremendous composed on the market at the moment, I knew it was going to be a battle to the tip,” stated the American, ranked 42, who scored his first win over a top-20 participant at a Slam.
“My serve kind of let me down a bit within the fourth set, however tremendous pleased to get via it.
“It’s all concerning the mindset. I got here in with the right mindset and I executed the sport plan,” he added.
Defeat compounded Tsitsipas’s issues after a mediocre 2024 through which his rating dropped to its present 12 from a career-high three.
READ: Tsitsipas ‘a champion’ regardless of struggles says girlfriend Badosa
He managed just one title, a repeat victory at Monte Carlo, and likewise suffered a first-round exit on the US Open.
Tsitsipas hoped for a reset this 12 months, however his season began badly when he was overwhelmed in his opening match on the United Cup by 77th-ranked Alexander Shevchenko and he carried that type to Melbourne.
“It was a tough first-round match. I knew I used to be coping with a fairly severe opponent as a result of I’ve performed him earlier than, and I’ve misplaced,” he stated.
“I had a really sluggish begin. When it comes to discovering my actions and simply dominating from the serve plus one, it wasn’t actually the way in which I’m anticipating it to work.
“That led to some frustration and, let’s say, insecurity by way of approaching my recreation.
“I simply hope I’m in a position to retrieve that again and use that as a power inside my recreation.”