Tsitsipas raised eyebrows with his behaviour in Rome as he unleashed his fury after getting broken in the first game of his match against Struff. The Greek star continued to strike a court-side box with his racket until his equipment got stuck.
It was rare to see Tsitsipas so angry on the court, especially early into the match. But he managed to turn things around to advance to the round of 32. After the match, the 25-year-old admitted he had never felt so negative on the court as he explained his unusual outburst.
“I can’t really process what happened in the last three hours on Stadium 1. A lot of drama, a lot of tension, a lot of emotions, a lot of fighting,” the recent Monte Carlo champion said. “I really don’t know what I was doing out on the court until mid-second set.
“I felt really lost out there and I don’t think I felt this way in a long time. It felt like I couldn’t sync in with the ball, everything felt odd in terms of getting the depth that I wanted and I managed to just figure out a way to make it work for me.”
Tsitsipas was surprised at the result, given how troubled he was during the match. He added: “I mean it was really difficult dealing with emotions like this. I don’t think I’ve had a match in my life that so many negative emotions overtook me and I kind of felt in a very tricky, weird situation. So I didn’t expect that comeback and that win towards the end.”
The sixth seed in Rome knows he needs to get rid of the negativity if he wants to go deep in the tournament. Looking ahead to his next match against Cameron Norrie, he continued: “I’ve got to improve my mindset entering matches.
“I feel like today was not a great way to describe my mindset. In the very beginning of the match I was not zoned in, I was not concentrating, I was not getting play deep into the court. Everything seemed kind of just not me.”
Tsitsipas enjoyed a strong start to the clay swing when he won the Monte-Carlo Masters and reached the Barcelona Open final. After an early exit in Madrid, he is hoping to get back to winning ways at the Italian Open.
“I really need to start matches a bit stronger or at least try to get consistent and find my rhythm during the duration of the match and find ways to just make it work towards my end,” he added. “I know that I’m good on this surface and I just hope I can improve on that and come in the next match a little bit stronger.”
