“I’m ready for anything pretty much” – Tsitsipas confident after dual five-set wins over Grand Slam champions at Wimbledon 2023

Stefanos Tsitsipas has done it tough in the first week of Wimbledon, going the distance twice against two formidable opponents.

Ask any seed what their ideal first week of a Grand Slam looks like, and they’ll tell you it’s all about getting on and off the court as quick as possible. As the old saying goes, you can’t win a major in the first week, but you sure can lose it.

For Stefanos Tsitsipas, it’s been anything but plain-sailing across the first five days of Wimbledon 2023.

Grand Slam champions, five-setters and plenty of rain for Tsitsipas

Over the first five days of Wimbledon 2023, Stefanos Tsitsipas has played on all but one of the days.

With both of his first round matches being interrupted by rain and spread across multiple days, this alone would be a tough pill to swallow in the first week of a major.

Let alone the fact that both of Tsitsipas’ matches were against former Grand Slam champions, in the form of Dominic Thiem and Andy Murray. The calibre of these opponents was evident, as it took the No 5 seed five sets to pass both of them, winning 3-6, 7-6 (1), 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (8) against Thiem, and 7-6 (3), 6-7 (2), 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 over Murray.

Tsitsipas is yet to play his third round match, and he’s already spent eight hours and 36 minutes on court, contesting 10 sets and six tiebreakers across four days.

However, the Greek is feeling upbeat about his progress so far at Wimbledon 2023.

“The reason I’m doing pre-season” – Preparation key for Tsitsipas

When asked about the challenge of playing two long matches against Grand Slam champions to open his Wimbledon 2023 campaign, Stefanos Tsitsipas responded:

“That’s also the reason I’m doing pre-season, to be able to overcome those matches if they occur.”

Tsitsipas went on to explain a little of his mindset after the two gruelling encounters:

“For me, I’m ready for anything pretty much. Unfortunately I can’t plan of how long I want to play. Sometimes I just have to accept of what comes from the other side of the net, try and work around that.

“Has been very physical. We’ve been playing, what, these two rounds for four days now. It’s been four days of lots of intensity, just lots of repetition. You have to wake up every morning and do your routines again and again.”

Thankfully for Tsitsipas, who is also entered into the doubles and mixed doubles this year, he’ll have some respite over the coming days. His partner, Paula Badosa, has recently withdrawn the pair from the mixed doubles due to an injury she suffered in her match today.

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Tennis Majors

Love of tennis driving Tsitsipas

It’s no surprise that after playing more than 10 hours across his first two matches, Stefanos Tsitsipas was relieved to have his mixed doubles match cancelled.

However, speaking about why he has entered so many events this Wimbledon, Tsitsipas explained:

“It never crossed my mind that I would be doing all three in a single event. But I also see it from the bright side. You like tennis so much, you want to be in these slams for as long as possible. Ideally from the singles draw, you want to be there completing the two-week period the slam allows you to play.

“But if you see it from the fun side, you love tennis, you want to challenge yourself in singles, doubles, mixed doubles. I personally like mixed doubles. I’ve had a few experiences playing mixed. I liked it.

“I love mixing it up sometimes. May be difficult physically, but getting all three is an experience. You can always say I’ve done it once at least in my life.”

Tomorrow will bring no respite for Tsitsipas, who is scheduled to play his third round singles match against Serbia’s Laslo Djere on Court 2.