Tsitsipas: The different conditions of Barcelona and the debate that counts the most | Blog – Dimitris Economou

Dimitris Economou writes about the two weeks that changed the debate surrounding Stefanos Tsitsipas and the difference between the final in Barcelona and the one in Monte Carlo against Casper Ruud.

Tennis is a fantastic sport. Two finals in one week. Same surface, same “fighters” and a result that looked like the perfect mirage. The only thing that changed in Barcelonawere the conditions and Tsitsipas this time he was defeated by Kasper Ruudwhich he took along with the biggest title of his career and the informal rematch for the Monte Carlo.

This time for the Greek tennis player nothing was favorable in the arena set up in Barcelona. And his delivery to Ruud was clean and fair at the same time. In a game that started with the best of conditions but turned into absolute chaos from the service line.

Tsitsipas won three of the first four games and took another five in the remaining 17. Sample of the Norwegian’s dominance after the first part of the game. That is, at the moment when the sun fell for good and turned Barcelona into… the Promised Land for him.

The rebound that did not favor Tsitsipas

A week ago, in Monte Carlo, the heat gave Tsitsipas the ultimate advantage. With the heavy topspin he puts on his forehand, he always offers the opponent an intractable puzzle, that of the high bounce. He couldn’t do something like that in Spain. The ball was heavier and sat lower, denying him the ability to attack as he would have liked.

Like he did in Monte Carlo when he played with the lines and took Ruud out of bounds. In Barcelona, ​​Tsitsipas was fearful. And the reason had to do with the confidence he lost in the balls, thinking that attacking from so low would bring effortlessly. Fate was involved in a rally with more than five hits. But this is Ruud’s trademark on clay.

When you get involved in the game of… cat and mouse, you have to be able to set the tempo. And for the Greek tennis player this was impossible. Isn’t it magical then? Don’t forget that we are not talking about a team sport, where at any given time someone else can… pull the cart.

In the most mentally brutal individual sport on the planet, two tennis players met seven days apart and a slight change in conditions gave us a completely different result. One could say that we have the butterfly phenomenon, in its simplest explanation.

Betrayed by his service

Throughout the week that saw his streak reach 10 in a row, the 25-year-old had several gaps in his serve. A dream of the work he needs to get back as he’s back to serving style after his early season injury layoff.

However, these gaps played a role in him arriving with an empty energy tank, both competitively and mentally. Tsitsipas paid for the few but bad service games he had against Acosta and Lajovic. He was called upon to make over-the-top turnarounds after being forced to play in… red for two weeks.

Upheavals that deprived him of mental clarity but also tired his legs before the final with Ruud. Who may have had the same schedule as him, but he had a much cleaner course until he met him again and without losing a set he won his first 500.

57% of Tsitsipas’ first serves passed gave his opponent the opportunity to find the required depth on the returns and especially to deny him the forehand on the second hit. Thus the rallies grew and the Greek tennis player seemed unable to respond. As helpless as Ruud had been a week earlier.

The paradox, however, is that in Monte Carlo, Tsitsipas had only 48% first serves passed, but his aggression there was unbeatable.

Two weeks that put him in the conversation

In Monte Carlo the title came. Not in Barcelona, ​​with his image justifiably a bit down. However, Tsitsipas came out of his own mothball within two weeks. And he returned to the soil, his beloved surface, as a claimant and not as a follower of the rest.

Two weeks he needed more than anything to get back into the conversation. In the frame of favorites, those you see across the street and enter with the psychology of the outsider. Something he needed far longer than any 500 tournament, and he’s now 0-11 in finals of this level. After all, if someone told him to choose, he would definitely choose the title in Monte Carlo.

Now comes the Madrid and then the Rome. Two Masters to keep them busy for the next month until we get to his track Roland Garros. With the second, the one in Italy, garnering much more attention. And because of the peculiarity of Madrid, with the fastest clay surface that doesn’t look like the Parisian slam, but also the absences.

THE Nadal he does everything to return, but his goal remains Paris and the best possible situation there. THE Djokovic opts not to play in Spain for the second consecutive year, having looked vulnerable in Monte Carlo. THE Alcarath he still hasn’t entered the frame of the soil with the subject on the wrist and o Sinner he has been defeated only by Tsitsipas.

From this frame, the Greek tennis player was far from a parasanga, but these two weeks, in addition to injecting confidence, reposition him where he belongs in his tennis. And until May 20, when the first service will take place in Madrid, we still have a lot to see. Tennis is a fantastic sport, a small change in conditions is enough from week to week!