PARIS :Former French Open finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas blamed his own immaturity for a shock second-round loss to qualifier Matteo Gigante of Italy on Wednesday and said he would need to go back to the drawing board to get his career back on track.
The 26-year-old Greek, a six-time Grand Slam semi-finalist, was outclassed by his opponent, ranked 167th in the world, in a 6-4 5-7 6-2 6-4 defeat for his earliest exit in Paris since 2018.
He has now won a meagre two matches in total in his last four Grand Slams.
“I feel like my focus kind of faded away for quite a bit (during the match) and I wasn’t fully present in the moment,” Tsitsipas told a press conference. “I seemed to be playing immature sometimes during the match and obviously I’m not extremely happy about that.
“I would describe that immaturity, not knowing how to handle those situations a little bit more conservative and not so impulsive.”
The Greek, once considered a future Grand Slam champion, is ranked 20th in the world – the lowest he has been in almost seven years – and following Wednesday’s loss he will drop outside the top 20 for the first time since 2018.
The 2021 French Open finalist has been struggling for the better part of two years and, apart from his surprise win in Dubai two months ago, he has not made it past the quarter-finals in any other tournament this season.
“I don’t want to use any excuses or anything like that, so my entire focus is on how can we come to solutions, solve certain things,” he said.
“It’s a constant puzzle. I’m ambitious, and I want to prove it on the tennis court. Things have definitely changed over the last couple of years, and I know that I find myself in a completely different position now,” he said.
“I just need to use my experience a little bit more wisely. My experience sometimes kind of stabs me, instead of utilizing it in a more professional and profound way.”
