Stefanos Tsitsipas has bounced back from his Canadian Open semi-final loss against American Reilly Opelka on 15 August.

The young Greek left the match with a final score of 7-6, 6-7, 4-6, which he blamed on lack of service rhythm and missing shots in rallies.

“There was nothing I was afraid of today, but I was missing shots in the rallies and missing opportunities. That’s what cost me in the end,” he said in a post match interview.

This loss however has brought Tsitsipas back to the Cincinatti Masters with some new fire in his belly.

On Friday (AEST) second seeded Tsitsipas took on Italian Lorenzo Sonego in the round of 16 of the Western & Southern Open after beating American Sebastian Korda 7-6(5), 6-3 in one hour and 39 minutes

“He’s someone who has been doing well recently. I knew I had a difficult challenge ahead of me,” Tsitsipas said of Korda in his post match interview.

READ MORE: Stefanos Tsitsipas eliminated from Canadian Open

The 23-year-old had a tough match ahead of him, and things looked testy in the beginning after he lost the first set, 5-7 after Sonego had taken him by surprise with 15 winners to three unforced errors and scoring 87 per cent of first-serve points.

“He was going for every single shot and his footwork was close to unbelievable,” Tsitsipas said of his Italian opponent.

“He can do damage against high-ranked players. Things got really difficult in a few moments but I stayed there and waited for the opportunity to present itself.”

Tsitsipas began clawing back in the second set and managed to get back on top of his game, sealing a Tour-leading 47th match win of the season with a 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 victory.

The young Greek will now be preparing for his quarter final match on Saturday.

READ MORE: Stefanos Tsitsipas lost his grandmother five minutes before the game

Back at home however, he may not receive as happy of a welcome back.

Recently the men’s ATP Tour has encouraged players to get vaccinated, but Tsitsipas has come out publicly with some reservations.

When asked by reporters if he would be getting the jab, he responded that he wouldn’t be getting one in the immediate future.

“No one has told me anything. No one has made it a mandatory thing to be vaccinated,” he told reporters.

“At some point I will have to, I’m pretty sure about it, but so far it hasn’t been mandatory to compete, so I haven’t done it, no.”

Whilst Tsitsipas is not vehemently against getting vaccinated, he is concerned about the side effects.

“I’m young, under 25 category, for me the vaccine has not been tested enough, it is new. It has some side effects…I personally know some people who have had them. I’m not against it, I just see no reason for someone in my age group to need to be vaccinated,” he said.

“I want to see a better version of the vaccine, which will give us more pluses than minuses.”

On Thursday, the Greek government criticised the 23-year-old for his attitude towards getting vaccinated, with government spokesperson Giannis Economou saying the tennis star “has neither the knowledge, nor the studies, nor the research work, that would allow him to form an opinion about it” during a press briefing.

“I would say that those who, through their excellent presence and performance in other areas, are also a point of reference for wider social groups, should be doubly careful in expressing such views,” Mr Economou continued.

That same Thursday, Tsitsipas’ father and coach Apostolos came out to support his son’s decision to wait on getting vaccinated.

“Athletes have a strong enough immune system to deal with any challenge that may arise. They take the necessary measures, are in a controlled environment and do PCR and Antigen tests almost every day,” he told Greek public television ERT during an interview.