Tsitsipas — the Greek god with the toes for clay

When Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in straight units to retain his Monte Carlo Masters title earlier this week, he entered an unique membership.

Not solely is he the primary repeat champion on the crimson filth by the ocean since Rafael Nadal in 2018, he’s additionally simply the sixth since 1969, when the Open period began, to defend his crown. The record of males Tsitsipas joined — Ilie Nastase, Bjorn Borg, Thomas Muster, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Nadal — have all peaked at World No. 1 and triumphed a minimum of as soon as at Roland Garros. Each are targets the 23-year-old from Greece is aiming to realize; so whereas his victory will not be a harbinger, it’s affirmation that he’s heading in the right direction.

What’s extra, Davidovich Fokina paid Tsitsipas the last word praise by evaluating him favourably with Nadal, when it comes to clay-court prowess.

“Rafa is a beast bodily. He’s a lefty, as you realize, and once we play towards him we all the time play the backhand. [That’s why] it’s robust to play towards Rafa,” he stated. “Stefanos has a one-handed backhand. However it isn’t simpler to play [against Tsitsipas] than Rafa. It’s a distinct ball.”

Nadal is the gold normal on clay: 13 Roland Garros titles; a further 49 trophies on the filth, together with 11 at Monte Carlo, 10 at Rome and 12 in Barcelona; the longest single-surface win streak (81 consecutive matches), and an unbelievable 91.5% win price (464 wins, 43 losses). Nadal has additionally been the benchmark for Tsitsipas, somebody he can measure himself towards.

Reaching my limits

“Rafa is an actual competitor on the court docket. He hates to lose,” Tsitsipas stated. “He hates to lose greater than anybody else. I haven’t seen anybody struggle like this. He makes my life actually tough on court docket. I’m there to simply accept these phrases and play based mostly on his need to struggle. It additionally makes me a greater participant and I can see myself reaching my limits. It’s positively one thing good to have for my private improvement and development.”

Tsitsipas’ admiration for Nadal’s combating spirit isn’t stunning. For all the wonder in his sport — the backhand, the agility and the texture, when he chooses to make use of it — the sinewy 6’4” star with matinee-idol appears enjoys grinding out wins. He’s a hard-nosed competitor, even when a few of his, and his father Apostolos’, behaviour has been questioned — the prolonged rest room breaks, which caused a rule change, and the fees of on-court teaching, which he says he pays no consideration to. For probably the most half, nevertheless, he lets his racquet do the speaking.

“It was an effective way to prime it off with numerous combating ultimately,” he as soon as stated of an ‘ugly’, hard-fought win. “[It was] not a lot [about] going for clear winners or for an excessive amount of lovely tennis, however making an attempt to place within the onerous work in each single level and go over the boundaries, as I prefer to say. I take extra satisfaction in that than profitable easy matches. Easy matches are nice for vitality conservation, however there’s a totally different feeling once you struggle so onerous and also you give your soul out on the court docket, once you handle to win a match beneath these circumstances.”

This style for a scrap is without doubt one of the issues that makes Tsitsipas profitable on clay. Whereas the absence of Nadal — out of motion with a rib damage — and the early exit of Novak Djokovic decreased the severity of Tsitsipas’ problem at Monte Carlo this yr, he nonetheless needed to dig deep to win his eighth ATP title — his first in 11 months.

Draining

He needed to recuperate from 0-4 down within the ultimate set to defeat Diego Schwartzman in a draining quarterfinal match. Tsitsipas had been a set and 5-2 forward at one stage and seemingly cruising to the final 4. Nonetheless, his Argentine opponent hit again solely to be thwarted in a contest which went late into the evening. “I don’t suppose I’ve ever made such a comeback in my profession. It was loopy… I discovered the assets and I’m pleased with it,” stated Tsitsipas.

He needed to again that up the very subsequent day in a straight-set win over Alexander Zverev after which once more the day after that within the ultimate. “My physique was not at 100%, however I’m very proud of the tennis I produced,” he stated. “I don’t know whether or not the lengthy match gave me some rhythm, however I used to be in a position to play good tennis. I’m joyful I used to be in a position to execute and provide you with some good concepts on the court docket.”

Successful three best-of-three matches again to again — whereas spectacular — isn’t the restrict of endurance for a tennis participant, however Tsitsipas wasn’t even scheduled to be at this stage of bodily readiness. He went beneath the knife final November after pulling out of the ATP Finals with an elbow damage and was not anticipated to return to motion for a number of months.

However his restoration was a lot sooner than anticipated — he made it again for the Australian Open and bought to the semifinals. “That was not regular, not regular in any respect,” he stated. “My physician had deliberate for me to start out taking part in the primary week of the clay season. It threw him off, he didn’t anticipate it. It was type of a miracle in a means. The very fact I used to be in a position to go deep on the Australian Open was one of the best factor that has occurred in my profession, after such a tough damage which I suffered with for a few years.”

The efficiency in Melbourne was the fifth occasion of Tsitsipas advancing a minimum of so far as the semifinals at a Main. He has made the final 4 thrice within the final 4 years on the Australian Open and has a semifinal and a runner-up end at Roland Garros in successive years, shedding to Djokovic over 5 units each occasions. The 2021 loss was particularly heartbreaking, as he was up two units to like.

The run to the ultimate in Paris final yr was the fruits of a powerful clay-court season. Alongside his Monte Carlo victory, his first Masters 1000 title, he additionally triumphed in Lyon and reached the ultimate in Barcelona. He clearly has the instruments to win on clay; it helps that it’s a floor he loves — “my favorite” — and has performed lots on throughout his formative tennis years. He has the motion, the serve to win him court docket place and set him up for the following ball, the flexibility to assemble factors and finish them, and the persistence when he’s dialled in mentally.

Counteract

Clay additionally helps him counteract his opponents’ best tactic on sooner courts — hitting deep to his single-handed backhand and pinning him behind the baseline. The slowness of the floor permits him to run round and use his forehand extra typically: within the Monte Carlo ultimate towards Davidovich Fokina, as an example, he managed to hit a forehand 60% of the time in rallies and concurrently restricted his opponent to a decrease proportion of forehands.

Requested about his consistency on the filth, Tsitsipas stated, “I believe my tennis is great on all surfaces, though it adapts higher to clay.” Given the style through which he has began this clay-court season, he might be forgiven for already excited about Paris. However he isn’t wanting that far forward. “We nonetheless have Masters 1000 occasions [Madrid and Rome next month],” he stated, “so I’ll focus on these earlier than the French Open comes alongside.”