S. TSITSIPAS/M. Ymer
6-2, 6-2, 6-1
THE MODERATOR: You know Mikael very well. Were you surprised at how easy it was today?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I had to do my job. I had to play my tennis. I wasn't really thinking of the ease that I could maybe create in terms of a result.
But with my good efforts, the way I committed myself to every single point individually, the end was good. I was able to create a good result today with some good tennis and be overall consistent in many aspects of my game. Playing with a lot of depth and really staying patient.
I wasn't thinking of the result. I was entirely focused on my play out there.
THE MODERATOR: Questions?
Q. This was an easier win and a shorter game compared with the previous two ones. Does it make your job easier for the next game in terms of energy and stamina saved, perhaps?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Absolutely, yes. It's a good thing to have a match like this every now and then, I think. Especially when you come in, when you walk into a match with so much confidence and believe that you can really structure your tactics and you feel the confidence of your game itself, having built up through the matches before, having played a lot of rallies but having been in a lot of situations in a match, you are able to kind of awaken the mind a little bit and see the best opportunities and possibilities for yourself.
So for sure it was a good performance in ways. I know it wasn't as long as my previous matches, but that's why we have practice, so we can go back and practice either today or the next day or whenever it comes.
Q. I was just wondering, I imagine you come into these tournaments to win them now. Given that, how important or not is the ranking to you these days, points? Also, one more thing, if you are still working with Thomas Enqvist?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Yes, I'm still working with Thomas Enqvist. I decided to partner up with my dad again for the clay court season. I have a great relationship with him. We still communicate very often.
Back to the other one, which was...
Q. Points.
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: The points. Oh, yeah, that's right. Sorry. To win one.
I don't think about ranking right now. I have completely stopped thinking about rankings.
I don't know, like, probably like a year ago, more than a year ago, for me it's the points that count. Rankings, if I'm able to really get the points that I want to get and be at a certain amount of points, at a certain amount of points at a special, like, time of the year that I need to have these points for me, that's the indication that I'm really doing well and I should continue pushing through and putting in the job.
I kind of, you know, having been on the tour for a little bit, I kind of understood where and when I need those points in order to get better, get closer to a better year.
So for me, the points are "the" most important thing at the end. The ranking will eventually change if you really dedicate yourself on scoring points, making points weekly, on a weekly basis, and giving it your all on the court.
Q. That match before you ended probably a little quicker than you thought it would because of the default. I was wondering if that messes up your prematch routine or what you were doing. If you have a prematch routine that you do every day and what that might involve.
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Last two matches, not much. I had to go to sleep. I finished pretty late.
Q. No, no, before. So the match before you came on, it ended abruptly, all of a sudden with the default. I was wondering... Badosa.
THE MODERATOR: She retired.
Q. She retired. That's what I meant.
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Oh, okay.
Q. I was wondering if you were not expecting to start...
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I had my team, they were looking on the match. They were watching the match. They were watching the match, and they saw something going on, and they forewarned me that there might be something that's coming.
So I was quite ready for maybe an earlier start than expected.
Q. You have lots of interesting thoughts, and you always ask some interesting questions on social media. What is the biggest question in your life right now that you are searching for the answer for?
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Do you have a "Best Question of the Year Award" from ATP? I can give it to you straightaway. Oh, my God. Ooh-la-la.
It happens to you that the question is so good that you can't answer it? Good question.
Q. Just speak from the heart.
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: What is a question that I'm looking for that I haven't found yet?
Q. The answer to.
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Whew. Yeah.
It's like, it's there but... Question.
Well, I will tell you that I respect a lot the top three for having been so incredibly consistent the last couple of years. I don't think there is anything behind it. Many people have talked in the past that, yeah, there might be things behind, but I completely ignore those things and I don't believe in those things.
I have questioned myself, how do I become a better athlete? These guys have pushed me to become a better athlete. I question myself, really, what can I add to my life that can eventually help me achieve more and do more and do better in terms of my career.
So every day is a question: What can I add? I have improved certainly a lot when it comes to my diet. Looking back on the diet that I had, let's say, three or four years ago, it's nothing compared to what I have now. I'm very professional and very conscious of what I consume and what I eat every day.
In terms of fitness, this is something that I have questioned a lot, as well. How much more can I push and bring my body to the limits in order to be at ease when I'm on the court and be able to withstand all that pressure, physical pressure of playing long matches and having to push after every single shot and endurance and all that.
And of course the balance between life and career, which, yeah, it hasn't been easy, but I kind of really felt like -- well, in better control of my life right now, I think, being focused and having control around me without relying too much on other people's feelings and other people in general. I put myself a little bit more in front than I used to before, which I think has helped a lot.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports