Stefanos Tsitsipas est revenu sur sa relation avec son père Apostolos après sa victoire au premier tour du Masters 1000 de Cincinnati.
Le Grec a dominé le Français Valentin Royer 7-6, 7-5 au terme d’un match particulièrement disputé. Il accède ainsi au deuxième tour du tournoi, où l’attend Felix Auger-Aliassime, tête de série n°2 du tableau principal.
En conférence de presse, le joueur originaire d’Athènes a déclaré : « I would say that I am probably at a stage in life where I make decisions and make my choices. It’s a phase where I’m evolving into a different version of myself. Before, I felt that many things were under control, but at the same time determined by my father. He didn’t bother me because that’s how things worked, I left him a lot of responsibility in managing certain issues. I feel that now is the time to decide who I want to work with, what I want to do, and what I want to achieve. I repeated a precise pattern for a long time and made a clear decision: I have had enough. I’m really looking for something different in my life. »
Tsitsipas réussit ses débuts à Cincinnati
Le Grec a ensuite poursuivi sur le même sujet : « I’m 28 years old, I’m not 21 anymore. And I think now is the best time to do it, to be honest. Maybe I should have done it before, but I did it now. Now is the time. I have to go ahead and accept this decision. Unfortunately, I can’t have him as a coach, although I would love to. I have a great team of people who have always been close to me and I would like my father to continue to be my dad, which I hope he respects. The relationship between father and son has always been complicated and will continue to be so in the future for tennis players ».
À propos de son prochain adversaire, Tsitsipas a expliqué : « I’ve played against Felix before, he’s improved a lot and he’s a player who is now consistently in the top 10. Play well on all surfaces. He is probably one of the most consistent players of the last two years because he continues to show up, get results and play regularly. I’ll wait to see if he has any difficulties: all players have moments of weakness during a match. I have to stay alert, focused, and stick to my plan with discipline and with a clear idea of how to become more dangerous. These are the aspects I will focus on the most, » a détaillé Tsitsipas avant cette affiche très attendue.
