“I Was Struggling As a Child With Fear of Rejection” – Stefanos Tsitsipas

The 21-year-old, Stefanos Tsitsipas was asked whether he actually feels like a ‘grown adult’ or not. The Greek lad had a profound answer to the question and he revealed that his elevated maturity level has aided him to bolster his professional career.

“Yeah, yeah, for sure. I think this growth in me was also connecting with other people, which I wasn’t really willing in a way to do before because I was really concentrating on my tennis,” said Stefanos Tsitsipas.

“That first interaction kind of got me a little bit more, just got me to realize certain things that I didn’t know before and how this world works and everything. And also, I was struggling as a child with fear of rejection, so I was never really able to open up and say what I feel and whatever,” he added.

‘Failure is the best teacher,’ and in Tsitsipas’ case it has worked out quite effectively. He dealt with consecutive losses during the Sunshine Double in the States and later held his in title in Estriol and reached the finals in Madrid.

However, his grass-court season and the North American hard-court summer weren’t really productive followed by his round one exit from the US Open 2019. Later, on the courts of Shanghai, he had some prolific records. In a nutshell, Tsitsipas has learned from all his mistakes in the past.

Also, the Laver Cup 2019 tournament in Geneva, Switzerland was one of the most productive events on Tsitsipas’ calendar. Sharing the courts with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal boosted his morale.

“We were fantastic together. I learned a lot from all of them. I don’t know, they learned from me, too. I guess. I can tell you Laver Cup was — if you ask me what’s my favorite tournament of the year, Laver Cup for sure. Because I didn’t learn as much in a tournament as in Laver Cup, and I’m really grateful that they made such an event because it’s the best thing for our game. I believe we should have more tournaments like this,” Tsitsipas added.

After the series of ups and downs throughout the season, the matured form of Stefanos Tsitsipas has been whirlwind on the fast hard-court of London. He is through to the semifinals with two consecutive wins in the round-robin and played an exemplary match against the World Number one, Rafael Nadal.

“So this kind of has matured me over the last couple of months taught me a lot of things. I feel much more as a 21-year-old now than I did before. It was also something that helped a lot, not just in my tennis over the last couple of months but also in my behavior and my everyday life,” the World Number six, Tsitsipas expounded.

The debutant at ATP World Tour Finals, Stefanos Tsitsipas will play his idol, Roger Federer in the semifinals of London’s event. There match will take place at 2 pm (GMT).