Stefanos Tsitsipas gave a brutally honest assessment of the state of his game, admitting he has “no confidence” in his forehand and that his shots are “really average right now”.
Since he stormed to the Dubai title two months ago with a new racquet and renewed motivation, Tsitsipas hasn’t made it past the quarter-finals in any of the five tournaments he has contested, including a third-round exit to Lorenzo Musetti in Madrid on Tuesday.
The Greek has been a regular fixture in the top 10 for the majority of the past six years but is currently down to No 18 in the world – his lowest ranking since August 2018.
Tsitsipas is considered one of the best clay-courters of his generation and is a former French Open finalist and a three-time Monte Carlo champion.
Following his second loss to Musetti in 18 days, Tsitsipas opened up to reporters at the Caja Magica about his current struggles.
“I feel like I have no confidence in my forehand, which is weird. It's not something that I'm used to. I feel like my shots are really average right now,” said the 26-year-old.
“They're not what they used to be, so it's kind of frustrating to see that.”
Tsitsipas, who won his first five meetings with Musetti before dropping the last two, said the Italian did a much better job than him at finding the angles with his shots en route to a 7-5, 7-6(3) win.
“I was worried during the match because I knew that I'm not able to recreate that. This is something that I'm not used to. I feel like I've been doing this quite well in the past and I've kind of lost it,” said Tsitsipas.
“The practice sessions haven't been amazing. I'm just striving for something better.
“I'm hoping that I can at least feel that I'm doing something with the ball when it comes to me. I feel like I'm not doing enough. It comes out too flat, not enough rotation, not enough power at times. It's kind of frustrating to not be able to correct that.”
Tsitsipas acknowledges that he made some progress on the return, but feels he’s not pressing enough and doesn’t have an immediate plan on how he can fix the issue.
“I'm a bit lost right now. I need to take some time and think what should be followed next,” he confessed.
Musetti, who has now faced Tsitsipas on seven occasions, believes his rival’s problem is more mental than technical.
“I feel that maybe he doesn't have that level of confidence that he probably had before in the past meetings. But of course he has had a good start of the season, winning in Dubai,” Musetti told The National on Wednesday.
“So I think it's just a matter of time to try to get back to the level where he is supposed to be. But I don't think it's a problem of level, it's a problem for him to find himself.”
