Andy Roddick offered some empathy for Stefanos Tsitsipas following the Greek’s latest loss to Novak Djokovic. On Monday, Djokovic defeated Tsitsipas 6-4 7-6 (4) at the ATP Finals. For Tsitsipas, it was his ninth consecutive loss against Djokovic.
Tsitsipas once had a positive 2-1 head-to-head versus Djokovic but now the Serb leads their head-to-head 10-2. Roddick, who now works as a tennis analyst for Tennis Channel, felt Tsitsipas actually delivered high-quality tennis against Djokovic in Turin but it just wasn’t enough.
Roddick on Tsitsipas’ loss to Djokovic
“Tsitsipas, actually, plays a very high quality of tennis against Novak. I was with my wife, watching the match and I said, ‘I can relate to this’, because Tsitsipas plays him tough, gets in these tight situations, and then has to be perfect.
You’re not allowed to miss a ball in the tie-breaker. The best of all time just forced you to be the best, especially in the toughest moments. I empathize with what Tsitsipas is going through and it’s just really, really hard.
I’m going to go out on a limb, Novak Djokovic is really good,” Roddick said on Tennis Channel. In 2022, Djokovic owns a 4-0 record versus Tsitsipas but their last two meetings definitely weren’t easy wins for the Serb .
Two weeks ago in Paris, Djokovic edged out Tsitsipas 6-2 3-6 7-6 (4). In Turin, Djokovic escaped with a straight-set win but it was definitely a very tight match. The match started with Djokovic breaking Tsitsipas in the very first game of the match.
Then, Djokovic held on to his serve for the rest of the set to win the opener. After losing the first set, Tsitsipas missed out on his first break point early in the second set. Since no breaks were seen, the second set had to be decided in a tie-break.
In the tie-break, Djokovic was able to come out on top and close out the match in two sets. After beating Tsitsipas, Djokovic said breaking Tsitsipas in the first game of the match was probably what made the difference in their tight contest.