Stefanos Tsitsipas: 'Rafael Nadal did not destroy me in London'



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Stefanos Tsitsipas: 'Rafael Nadal did not destroy me in London'

Stefanos Tsitsipas was dominated by Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open semifinals earlier this year while at the ATP Finals in London the Greek lost to the Spaniard in a tight three-set match. "It's good to see that I have improved since Melbourne", recognized the Greek.

"Obviously the score was different this time. I didn't get destroyed. I don't feel like I got destroyed. I was just very, very close. I feel like I'm getting closer, honestly. I feel I'm getting closer, I'm doing the right steps, taking the right decisions.

He's a very difficult opponent to play. Big fighter, really, like he gives his soul. I have dealt over the years -- not over the years, over the last couple of months to face losses with a more positive way. I don't get so much frustrated with myself and beaten up.

That's how we'd call it. I deal with them a little bit better, and I see the positive side of it."

Asked if he feels like a grown adult, Tsitsipas replied: "For sure. I think this growth in me was also connecting with other people, which I wasn't really willing in a way to do before, because I was really concentrating on my tennis.

That first interaction kind of got me a little bit more -- just got me to realize certain things that I didn't know before and how this world works and everything. And also, I was struggling as a child with fear of rejection, so I was never really able to open up and say what I feel and whatever.

So this kind of has matured me over the last couple of months, taught me a lot of things. I feel much more as a 21-year-old now than I did before. It was also something that helped a lot, not just in my tennis over the last couple of months but also in my behavior and my everyday life."