Stefanos Tsitsipas has warned Novak Djokovic that their quarter-final showdown at the Olympics will start “in the locker room”.
Djokovic has already caused heartache for the Greek star at Stade Roland Garros, coming from two sets down to beat Tsitsipas in the 2021 French Open final.
But Tsitsipas has a chance to avenge that defeat when he faces Djokovic on the same stage, this time in a best-of-three set Olympics match.
Tsitsipas will be bidding to end Djokovic’s quest for his first Olympic gold medal when they meet in the last eight on Thursday. The 25-year-old has a losing 2-11 record against the top seed and Djokovic has won their last 10 matches in a row.
But the No. 8 seed will do whatever it takes to bring his best level to their quarter-final showdown. And he believes that the games will begin before they even walk on the court. “I would obviously do my usual routines that I always do and of course, for me, the practice is very important, especially the morning before the match. I try and work on the tennis court to get things right,” he said of his preparations.
And the match already starts, I believe, in the locker room. The way I prepare myself mentally and the way I construct my thoughts before I actually put them into order on the tennis court.” Djokovic has made it no secret that the Olympics is one of his biggest priorities this year as a gold medal has always evaded him.
Tsitsipas is well aware of Djokovic’s goal and he’s ready to spoil the party. He continued: “I wouldn’t expect anything less from Novak. I can see that he’s motivated for this edition of the Olympics and I want to get out on the court and show that I’m a worthy player on the clay courts and I want to make any opponent that I play work for their win and work for every single point that I try and give to them.
“I’ve gained confidence, I’ve gained a lot of motivation being on these courts. I felt that I could’ve won the Roland Garros a few years ago but I didn’t but I felt like I was really close and had every reason to believe that this could be mine one day. So I’m going to try and bring that type of energy and that type of belief into my game because I’ve been having some good wins in these courts and I want to bring back that game that I’ve shown against him in the past in Roland Garros.”
Tsitsipas has already shaken off the scar tissue of losing to Djokovic from two sets up in the French Open final on Court Philippe-Chatrier three years ago. But their Olympics meeting gives him the perfect opportunity to exact his revenge on the Parisian clay.
I’ve actually erased it. I’ve actually, believe it or not, I’ve done some work into forgetting what has happened in the past. It hasn’t really affected me much, I would say,” he explained. Tsitsipas could benefit from the best-of-three set format at the Olympics, making that type of comeback impossible for Djokovic, but he’s not taking any chances.
He added: “I don’t think the format has anything to do with that, I’ve played him in best-of-three, I just need to get out and try and be better the rest of the times that I’ve played him.” And despite his huge lead in their head-to-head, Djokovic is also expecting a dogfight.
“I don’t expect anything less than a big fight and tight match. [He has a] big serve, big forehand, I know his game very well. He’s probably preferring clay over other surfaces,” the world No. 2 said. “If you see his results he’s played in a couple of Grand Slam finals already, against me actually, here [and] in Australia as well. Just he’s been one of the most consistent guys out there on the tour the last five, 10 years. He knows how to deal with pressure, he loves to represent his country. Let the better player win.
