“If our Spanish friend…” – Funny Tsitsipas talks about Nadal during his press conference

Stefanos Tsitsipas is considered the top favorite to win the French Open after Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

The Greek sensation had a hilarious press conference ahead of his campaign in Paris. Talking about being a possible surprise at the French Open, Stefanos Tsitsipas said that the biggest surprise would be if the so-called Spanish friend (aka Rafael Nadal) would not dominate the tournament.

Stefanos commented:

“Well, I would be surprised if, let’s say, I don’t know, like our Spanish friend, you know, wouldn’t be at his…  how can I put this together? If our Spanish friend wouldn’t want to make new customers this year for the French.

That would be, first of all, one surprise. And the second one would be anything better than semifinals I guess that would be a surprise, I think. Yeah, why not? Like it’s totally normal, I find it.”

It is worth noticing that “making new customers” is a slang expression in Greek meaning “dominating the sport”.

Tsitsipas will start his campaign in Paris against Jeremy Chardy. He will play on Sunday. Stefanos reached the semi-final last year at Roland Garros before losing to Novak Djokovic in 5 sets.

Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2021

Ranked world no.5 (career-high), Stefanos played his last match on the 23^rd of May when he overcame world no.45 Cameron Norrie 6-3 6-3 in the final in Lyon to win his 7^th career title.

Presently, during this year Tsitsipas has a compiled 33-8 win-loss record. Tsitsipas conquered 2 titles in 2021 in Monte-Carlo and in Lyon. The Greek was the runner-up in Acapulco and in Barcelona.

Lyon

Tsitsipas's Record

Rafael Nadal in 2021

At the moment ranked no.3, Rafael played his last match on the 16^th of May when he defeated world no.1 Novak Djokovic 7-5 1-6 6-3 in the final in Rome to win his 88^th career title.

Until now, during this year the Spaniard owns a compiled 18-3 win-loss record. Nadal has won 2 titles in 2021 in Barcelona and in Rome.

Rome

Nadal's Record

Stefanos Tsitsipas and Rafael Nadal clashed against each other 9 times. Their actual head to head record is 7-2 for Nadal. Previously, the last time when they played, Rafael Nadal won 6-4 6-7(6) 7-5 in the final in Barcelona (Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell) on the 25^th of April 2021.

You can watch the highlights in the following video.