Stefanos Tsitsipas spoke about his run at the 2024 Monte-Carlo Masters, admitting that being annoying is generally a good way to win on clay.
Clay tennis is very specific, and the way matches play out is a bit different than on the other courts. Matches are generally longer because every rally is longer.
There aren't too many free points most of the time, and there are many twists and turns because it's pretty hard to remain locked in throughout the match, and it's also hard to have that slight margin of luck in every rally.
Even top players struggle with consistency on clay, and it's just a very specific type of tennis. Players usually either love it or they hate it because, for some, it's boring, while for others, it's 'true tennis.'
Many small margins determine who will win a match on clay. Players have to be more present and alert because tennis IQ plays a huge role. After beating Karen Khachanov in the quarter-final, Tsitsipas spoke a bit about those margins to the Tennis Channel, admitting that his plan was and is going to be to be annoying.
"It's small margins for sure. Obviously, depth plays an important factor. Just being able to press and be faster on the court. Adding constant pressure. Just generally being annoying, I feel like. The more annoying you can be the better."
Obviously, 'annoying' is a simplification of it all, but he's not wrong. The more pressure he can apply, the more likely he is to force his opponent into making a mistake. That's how he approached the matchups against Jannik Sinner in the past, and he'll likely do that again in their semi-final match.
It's the first of two very interesting semi-finals, and Tsitsipas will attempt to become the second player to beat Sinner on a tennis court in 2024.
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