Tsitsipas Admits To Health Struggles In First-Round Win At Paris Masters

Tuesday, 29 October 2024 at 13:30

byErik Virostko

Stefanos Tsitsipas struggled in his first-round match at the 2024 Paris Masters, and after the match, he revealed that he fought 'two battles.'

The Greek player entered the last ATP Masters 1000 tournament as the 10th seed, but he was given a proper test already in his first-round match against Roberto Carballes Baena.

Tsitsipas lost the first set 4-6 but rallied to win the following two sets 6-3 and 6-3 to win the match in three sets and reach the second round of the tournament.

It was clear that his opponent outplayed him at the start of the match, but only after the match, it became apparent that the 26-year-old Greek was actually struggling with a health problem.

He lost the first set, and during his post-match press conference, he revealed that it might have been related to a stomach problem that was bothering him on the tennis court.

He admitted that even before the match, he couldn't pump himself up to enter the court motivated, as the issue completely stole his focus. As such, Tsitsipas felt like he wasn't fighting only his opponent but also himself on the court in the French capital.

"I didn’t start so well. I had an upset stomach and wasn’t feeling so great on the court. I couldn’t even pump myself up at the beginning of the match, because when something is bothering you that much, it takes your entire concentration and focus. That was perhaps the second battle I was facing today, along with my opponent."

Winning his first-round match was important for Tsitsipas mostly because he still has a chance to qualify for the 2024 ATP Finals in Turin, which run from November 10th to 17th.

However, his deficit to players ahead is huge, as the eighth-ranked Andrey Rublev is currently 705 points ahead of him, which means the Greek player would need to win the tournament to qualify for the ATP Finals.

Still, the World No. 11 player plans to give it his all to try to secure his spot, even though he knows it might be almost impossible.

"It’s going to take a lot for me to qualify, so if I manage to up my tennis during this entire week, let’s see. If I’m able to deliver something good here, I guess that also earns me a spot in Turin. Regardless of that. I’m just trying to improve and feel my game the best I can."

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Speaking about his match, Tsitsipas then once again returned to the physical problem that bothered him, explaining that it took him some time to feel well on the court.

"It took a long time for me to feel better. It was very strange. It doesn’t happen very often. I just had to feel better, because I knew I was playing good tennis. I didn’t have a great start, but there were so many things on my mind at that moment, I wasn’t able to play clearly and with a good picture."

"Eventually I found the tennis that I wanted. It took a while to get to that point, but I knew that if I got to the point of feeling my game and aligning with my shots, it perhaps would have been enough to win that match. He wasn’t giving me much. I knew that he was going to fight but I knew I had some weapons that could hurt him a lot and I used those towards the end."

Up next, the Greek player will take on Alejandro Tabilo in a battle for a third-round spot at the tournament. Should he win, he could take on Rublev in the next round.