Defeated Tsitsipas misses his former fire

Former Australian Open finalist Stefanos Tsitsiipas confessed after Monday’s 7-5, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 to Alex Michelsen that the former fire in his game is nowhere to be seen these days.

The 2023 runner-up here who once stood third in the world, has dropped to 11th and has been struggling for months to escape the morass.

The 26-year-old Greek also lost in the US open first round four months ago.

He could always be counted on for two or three titles per season – five of his 13 came at the elite Masters 1000 level.

But over the past two seasons, he has been limited to one per year.

“For sure I had a fresher mind back then. It seemed like I was hungrier in a

completely different way than I am now,” Tsitsipas said.

“The one thing that stood out the most back then is that I had this hunger to try and make a life out of tennis and to try to have a good beginning in my career.

“It’s different than it is now. The game has shifted more towards a physical game. The margins become smaller, meaning that you’re not gettingas many free points. 

“Innovation has stepped in and allowed players to serve even bigger than before.”

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Tsitsipas now finds himself with unwanted time on his hands.

“The most frustrating part about losing in the first round of a Grand Slam is that you have way too much time to recover.

“I would rather have the other way around where I don’t have enough time to recover. 

“It just sucks in a way that I’ll be around, hanging around, for quite a while now before my next tournament comes in. With my competitive nature, I feel like these types of things are not really ideal for me.”