"I didn't know what I was doing... So many negative emotions overtook me" - Stefanos Tsitsipas on 'weird' comeback win to secure Italian Open 3R spot
Stefanos Tsitsipas has advanced to the third round of the 2024 Italian Open, however, he claimed that he was not expecting to make a comeback against Jan-Lennard Struff after the first-set defeat. He defeated the German 6-7(1), 6-4, 6-4 in the second round of the tournament.
The first set went to a tiebreaker and Struff had the upper hand as he quickly jumped out to a 5-0 lead and won the set.
The Greek, however, made a comeback in the second set and won two out of the three breaks of serves, eventually winning the set 6-4 to even the score. A rather similar scenario was witnessed in the last set, where Tsitsipas won two out of the three breaks of serves and eventually won the set 6-4 to proceed to the third round.
The Greek revealed that he was not satisfied with his performance. Moreover, he was not anticipating a comeback and found it difficult to deal with an opponent like Stuff.
“I didn’t really know what I was doing out on the court until mid second set. I felt really lost out there. I don’t think I felt this way in a long time. It felt like I couldn’t sink in with the ball. Everything felt odd in terms of getting the depth I wanted. I managed to figure out a way to make it work for me. It was really difficult dealing with emotions like this."
He further revealed that he was in a "tricky" situation during the match, and a comeback was not what he expected. Speaking after the match, he said,
"I don’t think I’ve had a match in my life where so many negative emotions overtook me. I kind of felt in a weird, tricky situation. I didn’t expect that comeback & that win in the end."
Stefanos Tsitsipas will face Cameron Norrie in the next round of the Italian Open
Tsitsipas will face Britain's Cameron Norrie in the next round of the Masters 1000 event. The match will take place on Monday, May 13. Cameron Norrie edged past Spain's Jaume Munar in the second round.
The next round of clashes will be their third encounter. The two locked horns for the first time in the final of the 2021 Parc Open, where the Greek defeated Norrie 6-3, 6-3 and won the ATP 250 title. Whereas, Norrie defeated Tsitsipas in the semifinals of the 2022 Abierto Mexicano Telcel 6-4, 6-4.