THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. I asked Daniil about this, as well, because you have traveled around a lot over the last few months dealing with the pandemic in different countries and different places and dealing with it on the tour. How difficult has it been for you to deal with the sort of confinements that tennis players have to put up with?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Well, right now I have kind of adjusted and got used to it, and I don't feel like it's so much a strange thing as it used to be before.
I am obviously waiting for the week where all of this is going to disappear and none of that is going to be a part of our procedure and routine that we have to undergo. So really looking to the next couple of months. We might see things go back to normal, and I'm waiting for that day.
Right now, you know, I try and avoid all of this sort of stuff and focus on the reason why I'm playing these tournaments. Also the same cases and the same mindset is going towards this tournament.
Q. You had a great run at Roland Garros last year. Very different conditions that you had in September-October to what you're going to have now. Last year there was a lot of use of the dropshot especially. I wondered if you think things will be different this year with slightly faster conditions, whether the dropshot will be as useful a shot now as it was in October?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I think it's always a good tactic when you play on clay, and I don't see any reason for it not to disappear with the different conditions. The conditions might be quicker. I haven't really paid attention to that.
Clay is clay. It might be slightly quicker, faster, but I feel like the dropshot is gonna remain. Maybe less successful; maybe more successful. This, we don't know.
I cannot guarantee anything myself. I'm not an expert.
Q. Last week at Lyon you said you wanted to play the French Open like you're not the favorite. Wonder if you can elaborate on what you mean by that and why it might be important to you as you progress at Roland Garros this year.
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Well, first of all, whenever I play, I want to be the surprise of the tournament. That's what I like most about it.
You know, same thing was when I played in Toronto and I really enjoyed that week and enjoyed that no one even considered me as the favorite, and it was a great week. It was a hell of a week. I guess I surprised everyone. I just had to play my tennis and think about nothing else and just felt great overall.
Q. I just wondered how important is the consistency that you have shown this year, coming into a slam and obviously having to keep that going over the two weeks.
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Consistency has been always at the top of my priorities as a player, and it has been difficult to find that kind of secret recipe where you get all the consistency and you can play consistently week by week. But I think it's something you build up with confidence, with experience, and eventually, you know, you just find the pattern. You find the way it works for you.
And it has been in certain cases this year. I'm quite happy with the way I'm progressing, the way I'm generating points, the way I'm able to face the guys at the top of the rankings. And, well, so far I'm at the top of the race to Turin, feels great to be there and I wish for plenty more to come.
Q. I wonder if you had any thoughts about the fact that Roger, Rafa, and Novak are all in the top half of the draw. There has been quite a bit of chatter on that on Twitter, that kind of unique situation.
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Finally, for once (smiling).
Q. You have often declared your passion for philosophy. Which is your favorite quote, if there is any, that you follow on court and in your personal life?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I have my own quote that I created. It was about six years ago. I stand by it: Don't wait for opportunity; create it. It signifies me.
A quote that I really like and admire, I think it's from Winston Churchill, which says: At the age of 20 I really cared what people think about me. At the age of 40 I stopped caring of what people think about me. And at the age of 60 I understood that all these things that I thought people thought about me were nonexistent.
I think that's how it goes, but you can find it and verify it. I think it's important not to really care sometimes what people think of you and how they perceive you. It's only your ideas and your thoughts that actually kind of represent you. Sometimes, you know, when you're stuck in these kind of ideas, it's more important what people care about you than what you care about yourself, it can kind of push you back and keep you still.
Yeah, I stand by that quote. I really like that quote. I think it has a lot to offer, and it's a lesson of life too.
Q. You just tell that you want to be the surprise of the tournament, but how can it be possible as you are the top-ranked in the race?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Well, I would be surprised if, let's say, I don't know, like our Spanish friend, you know, wouldn't be at his -- how can I put this together? If our Spanish friend wouldn't want to make new customers this year for the French. That would be, first of all, one surprise.
And the second one would be anything better than semifinals I guess that would be a surprise, I think. Yeah, why not? Like it's totally normal, I find it (smiling).
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