Third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas insists his shortage of grass-court matches in the build-up to Wimbledon, and lack of motivation, were the fundamental factors behind his 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 defeat to Frances Tiafoe on Monday.
“For sure lack of matches was crucial today. The transition from clay to grass, in my opinion, is probably the most difficult one, if not the biggest challenge in our sport. I just wasn't able to adapt,” Tsitsipas said. “I obviously didn't want it to be like this, to get to the point where I'm completely out of control.
“There wasn't that same fighting spirit that I usually put out on the court. I would like to see a different me next time. There have been times that I was much more motivated than this. But that's no reason for me not to play well.”
The Greek has not played since his five-set defeat to Novak Djokovic in the final at Roland Garros earlier this month. He did not play an ATP Tour event on grass in June, which is a decision the 22-year-old regrets. However, Tsitsipas does believe he has the game to succeed on grass in the future.
“I was thinking maybe I should have played either Mallorca or Eastbourne. These tournaments would have helped get me in a better shaper,” Tsitsipas admitted. “I would like to pinpoint and say that I have all the qualities and the game to play on grass.
“I kind of started feeling my game a bit better towards the end of the third set. I just wish the match would have started in the third set. I wasn't able to maintain the intensity.”
Tsitsipas fell in the first round at Wimbledon in 2019 to Thomas Fabbiano and is now 3-4 at SW19. After that defeat, he felt like he only had one game plan, but believes this was not the issue today.
“It could have worked. But it was too late. I also missed some other things that I later discovered, [which] could have helped me. It was kind of late. When you're two sets to love down, especially on grass, everything is measured up to details, everything is in the details.
“It's not like clay where you are two sets to love down, it's kind of a different rhythm, a different pace, precision is not the most important thing. You can fight your way out of it.”
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“For sure lack of matches was crucial today. The transition from clay to grass, in my opinion, is probably the most difficult one, if not the biggest challenge in our sport. I just wasn't able to adapt,” Tsitsipas said. “I obviously didn't want it to be like this, to get to the point where I'm completely out of control.
“There wasn't that same fighting spirit that I usually put out on the court. I would like to see a different me next time. There have been times that I was much more motivated than this. But that's no reason for me not to play well.”
The Greek has not played since his five-set defeat to Novak Djokovic in the final at Roland Garros earlier this month. He did not play an ATP Tour event on grass in June, which is a decision the 22-year-old regrets. However, Tsitsipas does believe he has the game to succeed on grass in the future.
“I was thinking maybe I should have played either Mallorca or Eastbourne. These tournaments would have helped get me in a better shaper,” Tsitsipas admitted. “I would like to pinpoint and say that I have all the qualities and the game to play on grass.
“I kind of started feeling my game a bit better towards the end of the third set. I just wish the match would have started in the third set. I wasn't able to maintain the intensity.”
Tsitsipas fell in the first round at Wimbledon in 2019 to Thomas Fabbiano and is now 3-4 at SW19. After that defeat, he felt like he only had one game plan, but believes this was not the issue today.
“It could have worked. But it was too late. I also missed some other things that I later discovered, [which] could have helped me. It was kind of late. When you're two sets to love down, especially on grass, everything is measured up to details, everything is in the details.
“It's not like clay where you are two sets to love down, it's kind of a different rhythm, a different pace, precision is not the most important thing. You can fight your way out of it.”
View Monday's Schedule | Listen To Radio Wimbledon | List Of Broadcasters (PDF)