Stefanos Tsitsipas sends warning to Novak Djokovic ahead of Olympics showdown - "The match starts in the locker room"

Thursday, 01 August 2024 at 08:30

Former World No.1 Novak Djokovic has made it clear the only accolade missing from his illustrious resume is Olympic gold. However, Greek rival Stefanos Tsitsipas would like to play spoiler and keep the Serbian from accomplishing this milestone.

Both men are scheduled to face off in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Olympic Games, with Tsitsipas being the next obstacle in Djokovic's road to Olympic glory. The tennis event is being hosted on the prestigious clay courts of Roland Garros in Paris. Although the 24-Grand Slam champion is the favorite in this final eight encounter, Tsitsipas is out for revenge, hoping to get his win back after falling to Djokovic at the 2021 French Open final.

Tsitsipas believes the match begins before both men even walk on court

The World No.11 has a 2-11 record against Djokovic, having lost the last 10 matches in a row. However, Tsitsipas stated he will do whatever it takes to secure the victory, adding the match will begin "in the locker room" as he prepares himself physically and mentally for the showdown.

"I would obviously do my usual routines that I always do and of course, for me, the practice is very important, especially the morning before the match," disclosed the 25-year old. "I try and work on the tennis court to get things right.
"And the match already starts, I believe, in the locker room. The way I prepare myself mentally and the way I construct my thoughts before I actually put them into order on the tennis court.

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"I wouldn’t expect anything less from Novak. I can see that he’s motivated for this edition of the Olympics and I want to get out on the court and show that I’m a worthy player on the clay courts and I want to make any opponent that I play work for their win and work for every single point that I try and give to them.
"I’ve gained confidence, I’ve gained a lot of motivation being on these courts. I felt that I could’ve won the Roland Garros a few years ago but I didn’t but I felt like I was really close and had every reason to believe that this could be mine one day. So I’m going to try and bring that type of energy and that type of belief into my game because I’ve been having some good wins in these courts and I want to bring back that game that I’ve shown against him in the past in Roland Garros."

Stefanos Tsitsipas

@stefanos

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Three down. Three to go. #Paris2024

11:41 AM · Jul 31, 2024

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