Last year, when Stefanos Tsitsipas was beaten by Novak Djokovic in the French Open final after winning the first two sets, he was asked what he had learned.
“In order for the match to be finished, you have to win three sets,” came the rueful reply “Two sets doesn’t really mean anything.”
Twelve months on, Tsitsipas, 23, has learned that reputation means even less. Bundled out of the tournament 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 by Holger Rune, the Danish teenager who stunned Denis Shapovalov in the opening round, the Greek was inconsolable as he contemplated his failure to make the required tactical adjustments in time to avoid defeat.
“I was trying to return from really far back on his serves. He serves good, but he’s not John Isner,” said Tsitsipas, the fourth seed, in an emotionally charged press conference.
“Psychologically, that really drowned me. Once I missed a few or wasn’t making it deep enough, he kind of found that pattern and was reading it really well, executing some, being able to bring out some good shots and feeling comfortable.
“I wasn’t really applying a lot of pressure, it was ridiculous at a point. And again I was stubborn, I was stubborn to change it, I didn’t want to change because it has helped me before, it has brought good results. But again, like I need to adjust way quicker, it’s too late for this stuff.”
Therein lies the frustration for Tsitsipas, who is at a point in his career when his greater experience over five sets ought to give him the edge over the likes of Rune, a 19-year-old making his Roland Garros debut who had never previously won a match at a major. The young Dane nonetheless deserves huge credit for his performance. He pushed Tsitsipas off the baseline with his power and depth off the ground, leavened the mix with some wonderfully executed drop shots, and held firm on serve in the key moments, not least when he fended off three break points as he served for the match after spurning an opportunity to seal victory at 5-2.
“When I was up 5-2, I thought that I had a big lead, so I kind of relaxed, maybe too much,” said Rune, who defeated Alexander Zverev en route to his first ATP title in Munich last month. “He was playing very aggressively and very freely, because he was obviously behind two sets to one and with two breaks, so he had at that moment nothing to lose. He just played some great shots.
“Then he played a great service game, and then I went out at 5-4 really nervous, I would say, and a bit stressed, but I think I managed very good. Obviously started with a double fault. Was not how I wanted to. But, you know, then I came back and really tried to play more aggressive, because he was playing super close to the line, taking every ball as it bounced almost, and was really taking time away. I think at the end I showed some good shots and some very good tennis at the tight moments.”
The longform version of the game should nevertheless allow the elite to work things out, to overcome setbacks, to find a way. Tsitsipas was unable to turn the tide, as Djokovic did against him a year ago, and that will hurt. The Greek knows as well as anyone that he is no longer one of the game’s rising stars, but a former grand slam finalist and an established presence in the world’s top five. He is there to be shot at, a prize scalp for the next wave of young hopefuls aiming to upset the status quo at the top of the men’s game. Yet in recent months, he has been beaten by the 21-year-old American Jenson Brooksby in Indian Wells and Carlos Alcaraz, 19, in Miami and Barcelona. The danger of falling through the gap between the big three and the Next Gen is clear, yet he remains sanguine.
“I’m not worried,” said the 23-year-old. “I know my tennis, I know my game. These kids are going to want to beat me badly, because obviously they are chasing. I’m chasing too, but I’m at a different kind of position than they are. I’m hungry to beat them too. Now that they have beaten me, I want payback.”
Also in the mood for payback was Marin Cilic, the former US Open champion, who swept aside Daniil Medvedev 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 to avenge a run of three straights losses to the Russian second seed. An irresistible display of attacking tennis from Cilic saw him seal victory in a brisk one hour and 45 minutes as Medvedev, one of the game’s most effective returners, failed to create a single break point and was broken five times.
With Tsitsipas and Medvedev out, Andrey Rublev assumes the mantle of favourite in the bottom half of the draw. The Russian seventh seed, who will face Cilic next, advanced to the last eight for the second time in his career after Italy’s Jannik Sinner was forced to retire with a knee injury while trailing 1-6, 6-4, 2-0.