Stefanos Tsitsipas impressed last week in Madrid especially after beating Rafael Nadal in the semifinal 6-4 2-6 6-3 (article).
After just 1 week, things got rather different in Rome where the Greek lost 6-3 6-4 at the hands of Rafael Nadal also in the final 4.
Why Tsitsipas lost to Nadal in Rome?
Stefanos played a rather good match in Rome against the King of Clay to later explain what was the key factor that led to his loss. Stefanos commented
“In Madrid, altitude, courts are faster, balls are faster.
The shots that I played today, I played similar shots last week. Today those shots felt really slow, and he had plenty of time to pass me when I was approaching to the net, which in Madrid it felt quite different. It didn’t feel like I had much control of my shots. The court speed was the difference, I would say.
But he played pretty much the same. Maybe a little bit better, but not a noticeable difference.”
After this week Stefanos will be ranked no.6, and he will be no.3 in the Year to Date rankings to strengthen his chances to qualify for the ATP Finals.
IT WAS A BATTLE
|
| Embed from Getty Images |
