Stefanos Tsitsipas takes inspiration from Novak Djokovic, says the Serb improves gradually at Grand Slams
Stefanos Tsitsipas recently gave his thoughts on there being a lot of upsets in the first three rounds of the 2023 French Open.
Many top players in both the men's and the women's draws have been sent packing in one of the first three rounds. As far as the men's top 10 are concerned, Daniil Medvedev (World No. 2) lost to Thiago Seyboth Wild in the first round, Andrey Rublev (7) lost to Lorenzo Sonego in the third round, Jannik Sinner (8) lost to Daniel Altmaier in the second round, and Felix Auger-Aliassime (10) lost to Fabio Fognini in the first round.
On the women's side, Jessica Pegula (3) lost to Elise Mertens in the third round, Caroline Garcia (5) lost to Anna Blinkova in the second round, Maria Sakkari (8) lost to Karolina Muchova in the first round, and Petra Kvitova (10) lost to Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the first round.
Tsitsipas, who has reached the fourth round safely, thinks it's normal that upsets are happening at a Grand Slam tournament.
"You know, upsets, it's a thing. It's happening to everyone. It has happened to most of us on early rounds and we learn through that how to avoid them and how to kind of build a safe net where we can start a little bit more kind of add in terms of risk in our game later on," Stefanos Tsitsipas said during his post match conference.
The World No. 5 pointed to Novak Djokovic as an example of starting a little slower than expected and then turning it up as the tournament progresses.
"Something that has, I feel like Novak Djokovic has been doing very well in terms of his Grand Slam appearances. He has been starting Grand Slams, I wouldn't say playing incredible tennis, but just enough to get him through in the first few rounds," Tsitsipas added.
Stefanos Tsitsipas to face Sebastian Ofner in the fourth round of the 2023 French Open
Stefanos Tsitsipas has been convincing in his first three wins at the 2023 French Open, dropping just one set.
He defeated Jiri Vesely in the first round 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(7), Roberto Carballes Baena in the second round 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-4, and Diego Schwartzman in the third round 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.
Tsitsipas' next opponent is World No. 118, Sebastian Ofner, who is enjoying the best Grand Slam run of his career in Paris. Ofner has reached the fourth round after having to go through the qualifying draw.
The Austrian beat Maxime Cressy in the first round of the main draw 6-4, 7-6(6), 6-2, Sebastian Korda in the second round 6-3, 7-6(1), 6-4, and Fabio Fognini in the third round 5-7, 6-3, 7-5, 1-6, 6-4.