“I can just, let’s say, take it as something that’s going to hit hard, shake me up, and maybe feed my ego a little bit.”

Some defeats are harder to swallow than others. The one suffered by Stéfanos Tsitsipás in the round of 16 of the Australian Open – 7-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 in 3 hours 01 minutes – against Taylor Fritz is one of them.

SINCE THE END OF 2023, TSITSIPas HAS BEEN WORKING HARD IN TRAINING

“I also thought I could succeed by putting discipline aside a little bit and focusing a little more on my talent,” he said at Antwerp in October.

“But that’s not how it works. Deep down, I feel like I want to change things, with a good end to the year. I’m very hungry going into this indoor season. I’ve never trained as much as I do now in my entire career.”

After three semi-finals in a row, in Belgium, Vienna and the Paris Masters, the Greek had to withdraw from the ATP Finals during his second match against Holger Rune due to a back injury. For him, a fourth-round exit at the major he’s had most success is a huge blow.

I THINK IT’S GOING TO TAKE ME A FEW DAYS TO RECOVER FROM THIS LOSS

Stefanos Tsitsipas

“I think it’s going to take me a few days to recover from this defeat,” he told a news conference. “But less than a week, that’s for sure (smiles).

“I’m going to take the time to think, to visualize and do better next time I’m in front of him (Taylor Fritz). To let myself be imbued by all these emotions, to make them part of my past, of my journey on the tennis court.”

tsitsipas close to dropping out of top 10

Following this loss in Melbourne, the Athenian will drop three places in the ATP rankings, to 10th.

“Change is constant,” he told reporters philosophically.

“One day you’re top 10, the next you’re gone, so you have to keep working hard to grow with those experiences, allow yourself to find those moments that have worked for you in the last few years, give yourself another chance, over and over again.

“It’s painful, and there aren’t that many moments of glory.

“In a career, you experience far more painful and difficult moments, of suffering, than moments of glory and success that will pop champagne corks,” he added.

“Success is only a very small percentage of what a tennis player experiences each year.”