Stefanos Tsitsipas: ‘I Want To Be The Surprise’ | ATP Tour

Stefanos Tsitsipas might lead the FedEx ATP Race To Turin for a spot on the Nitto ATP Finals in November, however he nonetheless needs to be the shock of Roland Garros.

“Each time I play, I need to be the shock of the match,” mentioned Tsitsipas on Friday. “That is what I like most about it.”

The 22-year-old Greek star went on to elucidate how he felt when he broke by way of the 2018 closing on the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers in Toronto.

“Once I performed in Toronto, I actually loved that week and loved that nobody even thought of me because the favorite, and it was an awesome week… I assume I stunned everybody. I simply needed to play my tennis and take into consideration nothing else and simply felt nice general.”

Tsitsipas, who misplaced to Novak Djokovic in final 12 months’s Roland Garros semi-finals, comes into the second Grand Slam championship of the 12 months with a 33-8 match document, which incorporates two ATP Tour titles on the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters (d. Rublev) and the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon (d. Norrie).

“Consistency has at all times been on the high of my priorities as a participant, and it has been tough to search out that sort of secret recipe the place you get all of the consistency and you may play persistently week by week,” mentioned Tsitsipas, who reached the Australian Open semi-finals (l. to Medvedev) in February. “However I believe it is one thing you construct up with confidence, with expertise, and finally you simply discover the sample. You discover the best way it really works for you.

“It has been in sure circumstances this 12 months. I am fairly pleased with the best way I am progressing, the best way I am producing factors, the best way I will face the blokes on the high of the [FedEx ATP] Rankings. And thus far I am on the high of the [FedEx ATP] Race to Turin. [It] feels nice to be there and I want for many extra to return.”

Tsitsipas, who will play France’s Jeremy Chardy within the Roland Garros first spherical, leads Djokovic (2,920 factors) by 440 factors within the 2021 year-to-date standings for a spot on the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin.