Greek tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas has lost to Canada’s Denis Shapovalov in the first round of the inaugural ATP Cup in Brisbane.
It was a hard-fought first set, going to a tiebreak, with Shapovalov taking out the win 7-6 (8-6) with a 207 kph ace down the middle.
Going into the second set, the players had spectators on the edge of their seats, with many Greek fans turning out to support Tsitsipas in blue and white, chanting loudly.
The players were neck and neck throughout, always one game apart. Just when it looked like Shapovalov was going to get the win, Tsitsipas would come back hard and win a game, eventually taking the score to 6-6, resulting in another tiebreak.
But the Canadian proved to be very determined, winning the tiebreak 7-4, taking the final score to 7-6, 7-6 in 2 hours and 5 minutes.
Team Greece was also unsuccessful in the first match of the round earlier on Friday. Michalis Pervolarakis came up against Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, losing 6-1, 6-3.
Along with Canada, Greece joins Australia and Germany in Group F.
Ranked sixth, Tsitsipas entered the tournament full of confidence and faith that his team could go all the way to the end.
Speaking of heavyweights the likes of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic who are also taking part in the ATP Cup, and Roger Federer, the young talent said he often compared himself to them so as to improve and one day surpass them to take the No 1 ranking.
“I feel like there’s something extra to chase after when I play against them, plus I get to learn a lot … I feel more of a complete player,” Tsitsipas said.
“I kind of compare them to me to see what works for them and what should I work on more, and they’re just super humans in a way.
“But I’m trying to get there myself and I’m going to keep trying to do my best because I feel like I can surpass them, I can be better.
“It’s just a matter of time, patience, and dedication on what I do.”
In 2019, the 21-year-old became the youngest player to beat all three players, significantly improving his ranking.
To achieve his goal however, Tsitsipas recognised that his performance needs to be more consistent throughout the year.
“Obviously, ups and downs, you can’t be consistent all the time [but] I’m going to try to be consistent as much as possible,” he said.
“I’m going to try to be even better than I was last year.”
Later on Friday Tsitsipas and Pervolarakis will come up against their Canadian opponents for a second time, this time together in a doubles match.
On Sunday Tsitsipas will come up against Germany’s Alexander Zvereb.