Beaten Tsitsipas rues missed opportunity: “Shoulder injury stopped my momentum”

Stefanos Tsitsipas‘s reign as champion in Monte-Carlo came to an abrupt end on Friday when he was beaten 6-2, 6-4 by Taylor Fritz n the quarter-finals.

The winner in 2021 and 2022 was well below his best and Fritz played brilliantly to take advantage, leaving Tsitsipas to rue the nagging shoulder injury that has bothered him in recent months, having started the year so strongly by reaching the final at the Australian Open.

“Since the Australian Open my results haven’t been very good,” he said. “I haven’t played a lot of matches. I think I can count them on my fingers the (number) of matches that I have played, and I’m pretty sure they are six or seven since Australian Open.

“This injury on my shoulder didn’t really give me opportunity to build up a momentum and rhythm.”

Tsitsipas previously said that some technical changes he made to his serve in the off-season resulted in the injury but on the eve of Monte-Carlo he said he was no longer experiencing any pain.

But the discomfort led to poor results. He lost in the last 16 in Rotterdam and then in his first match in Indian Wells, before making the last 16 in Miami and the quarters in Monte-Carlo.

Tsitsipas: “I want to finish in the top four”

Tsitsipas said he was concerned about his form because he is aiming to finish the year inside the world’s top four once more.

“I have been thinking about it, you know, how I could have gained points playing in Acapulco, perhaps playing healthy in Indian Wells and Miami, and these are the 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,” he said.

“I never look at the overall ranking, because I don’t really care about it. I think race to Turin is the best ranking that you can sort of have your eyes on.” (he currently sits in fifth spot in the Race)

As for the match with Fritz, Tsitsipas said his serve was not at its usual level.

“I just seemed off,” he said. “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.

“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.”

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