Stefanos Tsitsipas struggled against Jan-Lennard Struff in their second-round match on Saturday, which was an undesirable start to his 2024 Italian Open campaign.
At the Foro Italico on Saturday, the Greek player had to deal with a break in his first serve game as Struff pressed from the start. Struff turned everything around to steal the game, even though Tsitsipas was ahead at 40:30.
This infuriated Tsitsipas and destroyed both his racket and the towel holder that was positioned between the line judge and the ball boy.
After his recent split with his ex-girlfriend Paula Badosa, Tsitipas talked about negative emotions in Rome. He expressed his thoughts about it after the match and said: “I didn’t know what I was doing out on the court until mid-second set. I felt lost out there. I don’t think I felt this way in a long time. It felt like I couldn’t sink in with the ball. Everything felt odd in terms of getting the depth I wanted.”
He added: “I managed to figure out a way to make it work for me. It was really difficult to deal with emotions like this. I don’t think I’ve had a match in my life where so many negative emotions overtook me. I kind of felt like I was in a weird, tricky situation. I didn’t expect that comeback & that win in the end.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas after beating Struff in Rome:
“I didn’t really know what I was doing out on the court until mid second set. I felt really lost out there. I don’t think I felt this way in a long time. It felt like I couldn’t sink in with the ball. Everything felt odd in terms… pic.twitter.com/mBvjieYJwV
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) May 11, 2024
Tsitsipas in Rome, ranking, and results in 2024
Now ranked no.8, Tsitsipas has a 22-8 match record in 2024. Tsitsipas is now competing in Rome where he defeated the world no.41 Jan-Lennard Struff 6-71 6-4 6-4.
Stefanos Tsitsipas will square off with the world no.30 Cameron Norrie in the 3rd round. Their actual head to head record is 1-1.
Stefanos conquered 1 title in 2024 in Monte-Carlo. Stefanos was the runner-up in Barcelona (Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell).
Stefanos won 12 titles in his career: 1 on hard courts, 5 on clay courts, 5 on indoor courts and 1 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)
Tsitsipas will play next at the French Open (French Open). He will begin to play the tournament from the main draw that will commence on the 26th of May.
Badosa in Rome, ranking, and results in 2024
At the moment ranked no.126, Paula has achieved a 9-9 match record in 2024. Badosa is now playing in Rome where she bested the world no.40 Mirra Andreeva 6-2 6-3, the world no.22 Emma Navarro 1-6 6-4 6-2 and the world no.62 Diana Shnaider 5-7 6-4 6-4.
Paula Badosa will face the world no.3 Coco Gauff in the 4th round. Their current record is 3-1 for Badosa.
Badosa is scheduled to play next at the French Open (French Open). She will start to play the tournament from the main draw that will commence on the 26th of May.