Tsitsipas: 'I Want To Be The Surprise'
Stefanos Tsitsipas may lead the FedEx ATP Race To Turin for a spot at the Nitto ATP Finals in November, but he still wants to be the surprise of Roland Garros.
“Whenever I play, I want to be the surprise of the tournament,” said Tsitsipas on Friday. “That’s what I like most about it.”
The 22-year-old Greek star went on to explain how he felt when he broke through the 2018 final at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers in Toronto.
“When I played in Toronto, I really enjoyed that week and enjoyed that no one even considered me as the favourite, and it was a great week… I guess I surprised everyone. I just had to play my tennis and think about nothing else and just felt great overall.”
Tsitsipas, who lost to Novak Djokovic in last year’s Roland Garros semi-finals, comes into the second Grand Slam championship of the year with a 33-8 match record, which includes two ATP Tour titles at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters (d. Rublev) and the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon (d. Norrie).
“Consistency has always been at the top of my priorities as a player, and it has been difficult to find that kind of secret recipe where you get all the consistency and you can play consistently week by week,” said Tsitsipas, who reached the Australian Open semi-finals (l. to Medvedev) in February. “But I think it’s something you build up with confidence, with experience, and eventually you just find the pattern. You find the way it works for you.
“It has been in certain cases this year. I’m quite happy with the way I’m progressing, the way I’m generating points, the way I’m able to face the guys at the top of the [FedEx ATP] Rankings. And so far I’m at the top of the [FedEx ATP] Race to Turin. [It] feels great to be there and I wish for plenty more to come.”
Tsitsipas, who will play France’s Jeremy Chardy in the Roland Garros first round, leads Djokovic (2,920 points) by 440 points in the 2021 year-to-date standings for a place at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin.