The fifth-ranked Greek, who saved set points in the fourth set defeating Jiri Vesely 7-5, 6-3, 4-7, 7-6(7) in his Roland Garros opener, suggests his future duels with fierce rival Medvedev will climax as dance parties.
“Well, if it’s meant to be this way, I guess there is a dance after every one of them, I guess,” Tsitsipas told the media at Roland Garros. “No, it was fun. I wasn’t mad or upset or anything regarding that.
“I did the same a few months ago, so.”
Medvedev’s win over Tsitsitsipas gave him an 8-4 lead in their head-to-head series.
It was the 2021 US Open champion’s first Top 10 victory on clay since 2019 and set him up for his first career clay-court crown.
Former Roland Garros runner-up Tsitsipas said Medvedev has redefined himself as both a dancer and clay-court danger with his Rome run.
“I knew kind of that I was dealing with a different player because he seemed to be playing well against some good opponents just before we faced each other,” Tsitsipas said. “So in a way I was expecting something better. I wasn’t expecting that much better of what he played in the semifinals.
“But that for sure pushes me to be much more focused and determined, and kind of, not down-to-earth, I wouldn’t say, because, you know, he kind of caught me off guard, the consistency and the power that he was able to put out there. But for sure he gave me a fresh idea of who he now is on this surface.”
The fifth-seeded Tsitsipas is in the top quarter of the Roland Garros draw with world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, while the second-seeded Medvedev anchors the bottom half of the draw.
That means their earliest potential dance-off would be in the Roland Garros final.
Photo credit: David Gray/Getty
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