French Open runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas said that he learnt a lesson from his loss in his first French Open final. After he lost in the first Grand Slam final, he sank into his changeover chair and buried his head in a towel. As Novak Djokovic had that effect on him. While Stefanos was building a big lead and was on his way to victory, Novak mounted an improbable comeback in his 19th Grand Slam title by 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
The runner-up said, “What I learned today is that no matter what, for the match to be finished, you have to win three sets and not two, Two sets doesn’t mean anything.” Stefanos had taken a bathroom break following the second set and dominated thereafter, never facing a break in the final three sets. He also said “I don’t know what happened there, but he comes back like a different player suddenly, Djokovic played well. He gave me no space.”
When Djokovic found his form back, he moved better as the match progressed and on the other hand, Tsitsipas slipped from his game. His groundstrokes became less penetrating, and by the end, he was playing with less expression. Lastly, he said “I felt like my rhythm was off; I don’t know why, it was very strange considering that I started off finding my rhythm, finding my shots, and my movement on the court was perfect. But suddenly I just felt cold and out of it. I felt like I kind of lost my game a little bit. I wish I could understand why.”
