"I’m nothing compared to the player I was before": Stefanos Tsitsipas admits struggles after shocking first-round exit from US Open

Greece’s tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas has admitted that he is struggling massively after losing in the first round of the US Open. The fourth and final Grand Slam of the year began on Monday, where players from all over the world are participating to showcase their talent and secure the ultimate prize.

The world number 11 became the most high-profile to exit from the mega-event on Tuesday as he lost to Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis with a score of 7-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. It was the first time in two years that Tsitsipas crashed out of an event from a Grand Slam.

Talking after the match, Tsitsipas admitted that he is now way close to how he used to be. The Athens-born star also highlighted the drop in intensity in his own game and believes that his intensity has dropped this year and he can feel that.

“I’m nothing compared to the player I was before,” he said. “I remember myself playing when I was younger, playing with adrenaline on the court, feeling like my life depends on the match. And these things, I feel like they have faded off, and let’s say my level of consistency hasn’t been as big. I remember my concentration used to be at its highest, at its peak, back then, and that’s something that I felt has dropped a little bit. I know it sounds strange, but I feel like I need the hunger to reproduce the hunger I had back then. And I’m not a person that feels alright or settles for normal stuff. I really don’t know why it has dropped the last couple of months. I would even consider it like one to two years I’ve been feeling that way. I guess I was just able to hide it a bit better and put it to the side a bit more.”

This year, out of the four Grand Slams, Tsitsipas failed to qualify for the quarterfinal or beyond in three of them. His most impressive performance this year came at Wimbledon, where he was knocked out after losing in the quarterfinal to Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 7-6, 6-4.