Stefanos Tsitsipas heaped high praise–alarmingly high, in fact–on the man who beat him at the Fever-Tree Championships on Friday.
Felix Auger-Aliassime upset the top-seeded Tsitsipas 7-5, 6-2 in the quarterfinals, a result that isn’t overly shocking given the former’s incredible current form. But what Tsitsipas said following his defeat was even more noteworthy. And somewhat understandable, too, given that the 20-year-old Greek is now 0-5 lifetime against the 18-year-old Canadian (0-2 on the main tour and 0-3 in juniors).
“He’s the most difficult opponent I’ve ever faced,” remarked Tsitsipas, who has already defeated Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic during his brief but impressive career.
“I think it’s gonna take a couple of tries to beat him. He’s really quick and fast, which is rare to find all of that combinations together, combined. Big forehand, big backhand. He can create a lot of opportunities from his backhand, but also at the same time he can be very aggressive from the forehand side. There’s not much to come up with when you play against him. He’s pretty much solid from everywhere.”
Does that make Tsitsipas worried about his standing in what could be one of tennis’ great rivalries for the next 15 years?
“It does worry me (that I’ll be competing against him for big titles), because–I mean, it’s upsetting obviously that he’s better than me. I have to accept that he’s better than me…. He’s beaten me every single time we have faced each other: juniors and pro, he’s beaten me Indian Wells, he’s beating me here, he’s beaten me a couple of times in juniors. I only beat him in doubles. I don’t even count that one, because doubles is doubles….
“I might never beat him, but if I think that way, just need to wait, years maybe, for that chance to come. If not, then not. If yes, then fantastic. I’ll donate, I don’t know, 10,000 for that win to a charity.”
All joking aside, the world No. 6 thinks Auger-Aliassime can win the Queen’s Club title and then go on to reach much, much greater heights.
“I wouldn’t be surprised (if he wins Queen’s Club). I think he can win Grand Slams, to be honest with you. He has the whole package to play big, to beat–I’m sure if he ever gets the difficult chance to play Nadal, Djokovic, or Federer, he’s going to beat them, for sure. I will not be surprised if he gets wins over those guys.
“We will definitely see him in the top five. Maybe not this year but next year or the year after. I would expect something like this.”
For now, though, Auger-Aliassime is No. 21 in the world–15 spots behind Tsitsipas. So who’s really better?
“It’s funny that he said that,” Auger-Aliassime commented. “Maybe the way we match up is better for me. Yeah, I guess when we play I have the advantage on him, but at the same time I think it would be wrong for me to say that I’m a better player than him.
“If you just look at the results he’s had, I mean, he has three titles already on different surfaces. He’s beaten all the top players; Rafa, Novak, Roger. So I think objectively he’s a better player. He’s better ranked and he’s a better player than me. But maybe the matchup, one against each other, I have a bit of an advantage. I don’t know.”
But we do know. The head-to-head numbers confirm that Auger-Aliassime does have an advantage; the rankings reveal that Tsitsipas has a different kind of advantage.
Who will have the overall advantage in the long run? It’s too early to tell. It’s too early to be bestowing “most difficult opponent I’ve ever faced” praise on either one.
But it’s not too early to get excited.
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crazy comments by Tsitsi. but also cool.
Really cool. Tsitsipas seems like a very likable young man. Issue could be a little mental at this point. Either way, great for tennis to have some new young blood. Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray (less now obviously) have been great for the sport but they have to retire sometime.
I said it on the other thread, FAA may be Tsitsipas’ nemesis, not unlike Rafa is Fed’s.
Even though FAA is two years younger than Tsitsipas, he makes more sense with his comments. He’s able to be objective with his views, very sensible young man.
Tsitsipas I think is more focused on himself, so he thinks whoever he can’t beat must be better than him and so he feels that FAA will beat the big three because he himself has already beaten them once each.
FAA is right, it’s about match up; Tsitsipas can beat many others (he has 35 wins vs 12 losses so far this season) but he can’t beat FAA. FAA had beaten Tsitsipas twice this year but he lost to others 13 times this season.
Who will have a better career between these two? I feel it’s FAA, provided no major injuries during career. FAA has the power, the athleticism, the skills, the court craft, the mental focus and calm, and I think the ambition too.
It’s not that Tsitsipas is lacking or lagging behind in every area – he has the movement, the finesse in his game, the mental strength and fighting spirit, the ambition to be the best. His serve is great too, but still room for improvement, FH is great but I feel his BH has to improve and get better. His ROS is his main weakness imo, followed by his tendency to lose focus when having the winning momentum with him and so letting matches drag on unnecessarily thus wasting precious energy.