‘Half-dead, like an amateur’ – Stefanos Tsitsipas gutted to miss world No. 1 chance after shock US Open loss

Stefanos Tsitsipas was left gutted and cursing his own play after he missed the potential opportunity to secure the No. 1 world ranking after his shock US Open loss.

The 24-year-old, who has never reached the second week at the US Open, was one of five players who had the opportunity at Flushing Meadows to hold the coveted No. 1 ranking at the end of the final Grand Slam of the season, but he was left devastated with his performance in the defeat.

In shocking scenes, Tsitsipas lost the first 11 games of the match as he found himself looking at a double-bagel to open the contest. He also received treatment on his upper right arm in the 6-0 6-1 3-6 7-5 defeat.

“My arm was pretty tight, nothing was coming off my strokes,” Tsitsipas said in his post-match press conference.

“I felt like my serve was very slow today, but it was close to the 120s, so I wouldn’t necessarily say that it was. But he returned great, extremely well. I’m pretty sure it has to do with the altitude where he grew up for sure helps a lot with this kind of stuff.

“It crossed my mind when I started playing him that might be due to that. He did a great job, he dominated the game completely. I just couldn’t get into the match at all, it was as if I was half-dead.

“He played like a world-class player and I played like close to an amateur, not very nice to say that, but that’s what happened.

“I was very well prepared, I was playing very well in practice, had some really good matches against different kinds of players. I felt like the momentum was in my favour, I just might have felt a little tense going into the match.

“US Open, I never really had a good history here but I do like the tournament a lot. Just need to work on the negative thoughts a bit more and not let them affect me and not get in my head because I’m better than that, I’m a much better player and athlete, but definitely not today.”

With the current world No. 4 having crashed out, there are now four players left in the draw who have a chance of securing the top ranking: defending champion Daniil Medvedev, Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz and Casper Ruud.

Galan was unsurprisingly delighted by his shock victory: “Definitely one of the best moments of my career.

“Definitely the best match of my career, not only because of the circumstances but also the opponent. I’m really happy.”

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