French Open 2021 - 'I had to deal with my nerves' - Stefanos Tsitsipas details key moment in victory over Jeremy Chardy
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Updated 31/05/2021 at 09:11 GMT
Stefanos Tsitsipas detailed why winning a tie-breaker against Jeremy Chardy was so crucial to his victory in the first round of the French Open. The Greek beat local star Chardy and was made to work hard for the victory. Speaking in the Eurosport Cube to Barbara Schett and Mats Wilander, Tsitsipas also revealed if he felt he was one of the favourites in Paris.
Tsitsipas explains key moment during victory over unpredictable Chardy
Stefanos Tsitsipas felt winning his first set tie-breaker against Jeremy Chardy was the crucial moment on his way to victory in the first round of the French Open on Sunday.
The Greek was up against a local hero in Chardy and the match was such a finely balanced affair in the opening set, a tie-breaker was needed.
Tsitsipas came through and then dominated the next two sets to seal an impressive win.
The No.5 seed spoke to Barbara Schett and Mats Wilander in the Eurosport Cube about his victory and explained what he thought was the key moment in the match.
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“It took some time for me to adjust, obviously he’s a player who plays a very unpredictable game – he serves really well,” Tsitsipas said.
“It was difficult to deal with all his shots in the beginning.
But eventually I think the first tie-breaker was very crucial for my psychology.
“It was important for me to loosen up a little bit, raise my game at the same time. Eventually things worked out in that first tie-breaker. I was down. I had to deal with my nerves.
“Somehow after that my game was quite impressive. I managed to stay consistent.”
While the likes of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are considered hot favourites at Roland Garros, Wilander is tipping Tsitsipas to go far in Paris.
Wilander quizzed Tsitsipas about how he felt being one of the favourites.
“I feel like I’ve shown some good tennis in the past grand slams and had decent results,” he said.
“I’m lacking a bit of that consistency showing up in those semi-finals grand slam after grand slam. I would consider myself a good player on clay.
I don’t want to think too much about myself, I’ve been playing good tennis in the last couple of weeks and obviously things are working out for me as well.
“I have difficult opponents ahead and I don’t want to relax or anything like that, I have plenty of job to do.
“These two weeks in Paris are going to be difficult. I’m expecting a big fight in most of my matches and I just want to put my thoughts there.”
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