Stefanos Tsitsipas has praised Jannik Sinner’s rise on the Tour but has named one area that his rival can still improve on for the future.
The two top 10 stars have already locked horns on the Tour seven times with Tsitsipas winning five of those encounters, including their fourth round clash at the Australian Open where he prevailed in five sets. However, Sinner won their most recent meeting at the Rotterdam Open. In recent weeks the Italian has produced a series of strong results by reaching the semi-final stage or better at three consecutive Masters events (Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo). In February the 21-year-old won his seventh Tour title at the Open Sud de France.
“Sinner is a tremendous worker, he has improved a lot in recent years and he has improved as a player to get here,” Tsitsipas told reporters in Barcelona. ‘Today he is much more mature, more aggressive, more regular and more responsible in everything he does compare to other seasons.’
“He has some incredible shots, although I’m sure he’s still capable of becoming much more consistent, the results from him are there.’
“In my case, I feel that tennis is a really complicated sport to manage the daily intensity, Nadal and Federer are two examples of players who have managed it perfectly. There are a lot of big rivals out there right now.”
Sinner’s biggest win of the season occurred in Miami where he defeated Carlos Alcaraz to register his first-ever win over a world No.1 player. They are currently level at 3-3 in what is becoming a fierce rivalry between the two. All of their matches so far have included at least one tiebreaker.
“Alcaraz-Sinner is a great rivalry in my opinion starting because they are two players who are practically the same age, something like the one Nadal-Federer had, although it is true that there was an age gap between them,” Tsitsipas commented.
Tsitsipas could face Sinner later this week at the Barcelona Open should they both make it to the semi-final stage of the ATP 500 event which is headlined by Alcaraz. The world No.5 has only won four matches since reaching the final of the Australian Open in January but has been struggling with a shoulder issue.
As for the future, he believes he is getting closer to winning his first major trophy after setting for runner-up at Grand Slams twice before.
“It is something that depends on me and a bit on the rest because the circuit (Tour) is very big and everyone is looking for that goal.” He explained. “At the moment I have not been able to achieve it, I could not win the finals that I played and I lacked that little bit of luck that is always necessary.’
“Also this year, after playing in the final in Australia, I had that injury that has prevented me from competing well in upcoming tournaments, so next time I’ll have to level up a lot if I want to win. I have to improve my preparation. I know that I am really close and I just have to continue on this same path, giving myself the opportunity to continue fighting until I stand up again in another final. It is a long road to reach that goal, now I am working to be more consistent and return as soon as possible to stand up to an opportunity like this”.
Both Tsitsipas and Sinner have first round byes in Barcelona this week.
