MONTE CARLO APRIL 18 (BUS): Stefanos Tsitsipas knows his clay court is in good shape after successfully defending his title in Monte Carlo on Sunday, but he realized he needed to change his technique to improve on other surfaces.
Tsitsipas won his second consecutive title in Monaco with a 6-3 7-6 (3) victory over Spaniard Alejandro Davidovic Fokina to claim his first title of the 2022 season, Reuters reported.
When asked by reporters if he thought his clay-court performances were better, 2021 French Open runner-up Tsitsipas said: “My tennis is great… Everywhere, perhaps the clay is the surface I can modify better.
“I’ve had moments where I’ve been trying to apply what I apply to clay on the hard courts. It doesn’t seem to work much. Sometimes it just isn’t the way to go.
“But it also taught me a lot that I have to adapt to and never have to become obsessed with that…whatever works on clay has to work on faster surfaces.”
Tsitsipas said his approach made him struggle on grass, which is one of his favorite surfaces.
“I was trying in my head to stick with that… ‘Okay, that’s how I have to play on the other surfaces too,’” said Tsitsipas.
“I think sometimes it just takes more time to really get involved with a lot of training sessions, with a lot of friendlies on the field.
“I strongly believe that I can not only win trophies on clay but on hardcourt and on grass… which I haven’t done in recent years in the form I would have liked, but the goal is to change the style when I have to play on these courts.”
Tsitsipas said he was pleased to do well in front of a large crowd at the Masters 1000.
“He’s been a little bit more active than last year,” Tsitsipas said. “I think it’s doubly special in many ways…getting people involved, making fans scream and cheer, but it was a great way to get over it.”