Stefanos Tsitsipas lately opened up about why he determined to persist with the one-handed backhand although it’s not as pragmatic as the double-hander, revealing that he had been inspired by watching Pete Sampras and Roger Federer.
On Friday, the Greek booked his spot in the semifinals of the 2023 Paris Masters, defeating Karen Khachanov 6-3, 6-4 in straight units. Speaking at his press convention afterwards, Tsitsipas was requested about his one-handed backhand type and the causes he selected it initially.
The World No. 6 responded that he had at all times thought that it was a “classic shot,” particularly having grown up watching Sampras and Federer minimize by means of opponents with their trademark single-handed backhands.
“To me, one-handed backhand always felt like the classic shot. I saw it on TV. I thought, that’s the classic shot. That’s how tennis was firstly played, and that’s the classic shot that Sampras, one of my favorite players, played that shot. Well, at the time I was pretty young to watch Roger Federer matches, but I do remember him later when I was about six years old,” Stefanos Tsitsipas stated.
However, the 25-year-old admitted that he made the alternative when he was eight years outdated, thanks to a childhood coach who demanded that he persist with one play type as a substitute of switching on daily basis.
“To me, it was a shot selection that I chose at eight years old. I kind of got stuck with it. I worked on it. I tried double-handed backhand. I remember the day where I chose to play single-handed backhand,” Tsitsipas recalled.
“One of my coaches came on court — not my main coach, one of the coaches of the club — and told me, Stef, kinda decide. You’re switching every day. On Mondays you play double and then on Tuesdays you switch to single. Come on, decide it. You are eight years old already, nine years old,” he added.
It was not a alternative that Stefanos Tsitsipas regrets by any measure of the phrase, as he joked that it was exhausting to even think about seeing himself with a double-handed backhand as of late.
“I don’t know how old I was. He said, You’ve got to decide and stick to it. I remember that day. I was driving back home with my father. He picked me up from practice, and I told him, You know what? I’m going to stick to a double-handed backhand. The next day I switched to a single-handed backhand once and for all,” Stefanos Tsitsipas stated.
“I remember that day. Yeah. I don’t think a double-handed backhand would look too good on me. Can you picture me today? (Smiling.) It’s tough to picture it, isn’t it?” he added.
Stefanos Tsitsipas: “I don’t know what my very best level is”
Up subsequent, Stefanos Tsitsipas will tackle Grigor Dimitrov in the semifinals in Paris-Bercy. Yet to lose a set at the Masters 1000 occasion, the Greek has defeated high gamers in the type of Felix Auger-Aliassime, Alexander Zverev and Khachanov in his final three matches.
Regardless, Tsitsipas didn’t need to proclaim that that is the greatest he has performed, stating that he merely would not know what his best stage is and that he tries to produce it at each event he steps into.
“Well, the thing in all this is, I don’t know what my very best level is. I had a pretty good level at the Australian Open this year. It was good. It wasn’t my best, but it was very good,” Stefanos Tsitsipas stated.
“Then I have played one of my best tennis in Nitto Finals in London years ago. And I kind of feel like every single tournament or every single chance that I get to be on the court, it’s a new opportunity for me to show probably my best level ever,” he added.
Discussion about this post