After his five-set, five-hour-nine-minute loss to Stan Wawrinka in the fourth round of the 2019 French Open on Sunday, 2nd June, Stefanos Tsitsipas wrote a post on Instagram.
He said he had felt the “real definition of the word, competition,” and added the result made him appreciate the sport he had chosen as his career. Finally, concluding his post, Tsitsipas noted, “Today I learned something that no school, no classroom, no teacher would be able to teach. It’s called, living life!”
https://www.instagram.com/p/ByOOK7gi-Ld/
Tsitsipas’ words, touching as they were powerful, helped him to establish a deeper connect with tennis audiences across the world. Even with those for whom his game did not hold that big an appeal.
They also presented another side to the player whose ascension to the higher levels of the sport has been a revelation in itself. Tsitsipas showed he was not content to shrug aside this loss as being par for the process of learning. Expectations drove the match, and that it would be played at the full quota of best-of-five was the least these. Along with the external (that of the audiences) build-up of expectations, once the match began, it became clear that each player vying for victory had made his own reckoning about the proceedings. And, going in with the belief that he would win, Tsitsipas perhaps did not factor in that Wawrinka, too, would have similar ideas regarding their on-court meeting.
In this regard, Tsitsipas’ comments about getting real-time knowledge of competition are understandable. Although he has won two titles this year and upset Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal this year – at the Australian Open fourth round and Madrid Open semi-final – this was the first time he was tested.
The match was physically gruelling, mentally frustrating and emotionally draining. In the end, it was the 20-year-old’s lack of expertise in the latter two areas that let him down even though his older-by-14-years rival looked physically spent after having to save numerous break points throughout the match, and especially in the fifth set.
“Living life”, is what Tsitsipas called the result in his Instagram post. Beyond the poignancy, then, there is also a connotation of caution to it. That if his past successes had helped him gain elevation in the rankings, lessons from losses like these would be the first step to seeing him cement his place as a potential champion in the years to come.
There are, of course, other aspects to be learnt, too. Like, how not to indulge in unfiltered gamesmanship. By tapping the racquet mid-rally, or for opting for a change of racquet just as his opponent is about to serve. The latter was an occurrence that happened twice in the course of his fourth round against Wawrinka, lowering the qualitative intensity of the clash.
Learning about sportsmanship is something Tsitsipas can do from Wawrinka – the man who has been on either side of a result but who has always left the court with his head held high. In yet another social media engagement, Tsitsipas borrowed Wawrinka’s tattoo, “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better,” posted it as a tweet and said, it was inspired by the three-time Major champion.
ever tried.
ever failed.
no matter.
try again.
fail again.
fail better.inspired by @stanwawrinka.
— Stefanos Tsitsipas (@steftsitsipas) June 2, 2019
Maybe, Wawrinka’s influence as an inspiration will extend to Tsitsipas’ on-court competitive comportment beyond his results as well.
