Stefanos Tsitsipas’ 2022 hasn’t gotten off to the start he’d have liked but things could be about to get worse for the World No. 4.
World No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas cannot be certain he will line up at the Australian Open this month, admitting that serving caused him “a lot of pain” in the days before his loss to Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman at the ATP Cup in Sydney.
An elbow injury ruled Tsitsipas out of what was supposed to be his first singles match of the year on Saturday but he returned to play doubles that afternoon and to face Schwartzman on Monday night.
Schwartzman (World No. 13) continued this year’s trend of the lower seed punching up to victory at the ATP Cup, coming back from a set down to ice Tsitsipas 7-6, 6-3, 6-3.
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Afterwards, Tsitsipas revealed he was unsure whether the elbow injury would allow him to continue playing in the ATP Cup.
“I really don‘t know how I’m going to feel tomorrow,” he said.
“That was one of the biggest concerns if I was going to play this match today, how the recovery is going to be tomorrow.
“I finished the doubles (on Saturday), next day I couldn’t serve. I was unable. I was in a lot of pain.”
While Tsitsipas said he thought he would have enough time to recover and take a shot at his first grand slam title in Melbourne in two weeks, he conceded he was in uncharted waters.
“That is enough (time to recover), I believe. But I haven‘t had (this kind of injury) before, so I don’t know. It’s my first time experiencing something like this,” he said.
Monday night’s loss also consigned the Greek team to its second-straight tie defeat, knocking the side out of finals contention two thirds of the way through the group stage.
An engrossing first set ended with Schwartzman sending Tsitsipas to a tie-breaker, where the vocal Greek contingent cheered last year’s French Open finalist to victory.
His chatter with team captain and father Apostolos Tsitsipas picked up in the second set, but so too did creases begin to emerge in his game.
He was guilty of two double faults in the second set and committed more unforced errors than his rival (16-9), leading to more than one self-directed tirade.
In and amongst it all were flashes of the prodigious tennis that led Tsitsipas to claim the scalps of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer all before his 21st birthday.
But the plucky Argentinian had all the answers to his questions on Monday night.
He proved particularly capable of biting back when Tsitsipas unleashed his trademark one-handed backhand, leading to several entertaining rallies between the pair.
Schwartzman took his second-set winning momentum into the final set, where he held his nerve on deuce to defeat Tsitsipas for the second time in his career.
The win also ensured Argentina claimed victory in the tie with Greece before the doubles match even began.
Aussie tennis fans witnessed yet another upset in a clash between top seeds on Monday afternoon, as Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut (World No. 19) toppled World No. 8 Casper Ruud of Norway, who enjoyed a stellar 2021.
The Norwegians couldn’t take a single set from Spain in the 3-0 tie whitewash, which ended with a comprehensive victory for Spanish doubles pair Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Pedro Martinez.
That match wasn’t without its controversy. Early in the second set, Davidovich Fokina held his racquet over the net as he attempted to deflect Norway’s return, which is not permitted in tennis.
The move went undetected and Spain claimed the point, apparently to Davidovich Fokina’s amusement.
“That was definitely not legal,” Aussie tennis player Mark Philippoussis said in commentary for Nine.
“I think that’s what he was laughing about; the fact that he put his racquet over the net.
“There was a whole lot of wrong in that one.”
“Oh well, we’ll just draw a veil over that,” added Sam Smith.
At World No. 571, Georgia’s Aleksandre Metreveli was the second-lowest ranked player to take to the court for a singles match during the first three days of Sydney’s ATP Cup.
That didn’t stop him taking a set away from his highly fancied opponent, World No. 9 Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, who was undefeated across his ATP Cup matches before Monday.
Metreveli himself might’ve been surprised to have claimed the first set in a tie-breaker, but unfortunately the fairytale wasn’t to be.
Hurkacz composed himself to take control of the match and come home with a wet sail, 6-7, 6-3, 6-1.
Georgia has now lost all six of its ATP Cup matches and will hope to turn things around against Greece on Wednesday night.
Georgia and Norway’s losses have meant neither nation can qualify for the finals, which will be contested by the winner of each group from between Friday and Sunday.
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