After losing to Andrey Rublev in the semifinals of the ATP 500 tournament in Rotterdam, Stefanos Tsitsipas will try to win trophy at the ATP 250 event in Marseille.
Stefanos Tsitsipas is the second-seeded at the Open 13 Provence in Marseille. The Greek defeated Lucas Pouille in the second round and he will take on Pierre Hugues Herbert in the quarterfinals. Tsitsipas will try to defend his title from 2019 and 2020 in Marseille and win the first title in 2021. After his second-round match, he said:
“I figured [the tactics] out from early on and brought the top of my game,” Tsitsipas said in his on-court interview. “[I] haven’t played Lucas in a long time. Last time we practised in Australia [in 2019 and] I remember that year we both [made] the semis… It’s very unfortunate for him that he was injured for a long time. I think he deserves to be playing at the highest stage and his game has proved itself many times in the past."
“I knew going into the match that I was expecting difficulties. He has experience on the Tour, he has played great players, had great victories. I was dealing with a player with experience and a player who reads the game pretty well and knows his strengths.”
“I’ve been playing well, I’ve been feeling well on court. I think for him it’s not easy. He hasn’t played a lot of matches and it’s difficult to find your steps and adjust straight away, especially playing players in the Top 10, it’s not easy,” Tsitsipas said. “[I’m] just trying to stay humble, it doesn’t matter where I’m standing in the ATP Rankings. Every opponent is a serious task. Each one of them has played matches in the past against top players and it’s rare that you find players without experience playing at this level.”
“I’ve played Pierre in the past. He has a very difficult game. He comes to the net, serves pretty well,” Tsitsipas said. “I’m expecting a different style than the one I got today. He will be very aggressive. I think that’s something that I have to expect and he goes for his shots.”