Stefanos Tsitsipas didn't lose in Monte-Carlo for two years which makes his dejected attitude after the loss quite reasonable.
He was stunned by a very aggressive Taylor Fritz who used a rather lacklustre serving day from Tsitsipas to attack him early in rallies and the Greek never found a good response. A 6-2 6-4 win for Fritz left Tsitsipas visibly upset at the way he played and he lamented after the match during the press conference.
I just seemed off. My serve was not working very well today, and against opponents like Taylor, you have to serve well. I was aware of that during the match. I just couldn't find the rhythm.
Despite being aware of it Tsitsipas failed to adjust accordingly and Fritz managed to keep this one relatively without any complications. He was quite confident before the event that he would be able to make it three in a row but ultimately he didn't perform up to last year's standard.
I am much better than this and I'm disappointed I was not able to show my game today. I tried to fight on the second set. It's a good lesson. It's not a happy day for me, but it's a good lesson.
Speaking after the match he also confirmed that his shoulder injury is proving quite a tricky thing to manage as it keeps impacting his season. He famously declared that everything was fine leading up to Monte-Carlo but it seems like that might not be the full story.
This injury on my shoulder didn't really give me opportunity to build up momentum and rhythm. I have been thinking about it, how I could have gained points playing in Acapulco, perhaps playing healthy in Indian Wells and Miami, and these are the Tour tournaments that I was actually aiming for, because these are big tournaments. They can give you a lot of points to add to your confidence and keep building on the Race to Turin, which is important to me.
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