Tsitsipas' Masters 1000 Chase: 'I'm Getting Really Close'
Stefanos Tsitsipas has won big titles before, with his greatest victory coming at the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals in London. But the Greek star is still searching for his first ATP Masters 1000 trophy, which he hopes to secure at the Miami Open presented by Itau.
“I would be thrilled to walk away with a Masters 1000 title. The opportunity hasn’t presented itself, but I feel like I’m getting really close,” Tsitsipas said. “I really want it a lot and the desire is there. It always has been. I’m always working to get better, and I think that’s what’s going to help me get to that point of winning Masters 1000 events. I feel also I just need more opportunities to get there.”
Tsitsipas is no stranger to good runs at this level. In one of his first big breakthroughs on the ATP Tour, he earned four consecutive Top 10 wins to reach the final in Toronto three years ago. The five-time tour-level champion also advanced to the championship match in Madrid in 2019.
This will be Tsitsipas’ third appearance in Miami, where he reached the third round in 2019. The Big Three of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are not competing.
“It is an opportunity, I won’t lie. It is an opportunity. There are plenty of good guys that aren’t in the top five that can play good tennis as well. I can see them as a threat, too,” Tsitsipas said. “I don’t see myself as the favourite of the tournament. I like to enter a tournament with low expectations and build my way through.
“I have a pretty difficult draw despite all of this. I have matches that I will really have to fight hard and give my best.”
The second seed will play former World No. 5 Kevin Anderson or Brazilian Thiago Monteiro in the second round. Tsitsipas could face 28th seed Kei Nishikori in the third round.
The 22-year-old will hope to maintain the momentum he has accumulated with a strong start to the season. Tsitsipas made the semi-finals at the Australian Open and at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament, and last week he reached the final of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC.
“It adds a lot to my psychological state. I wasn’t expecting myself to end up in the final. I wasn’t thinking of the final when I first started playing the tournament. I was enjoying every single day there,” Tsitsipas said. “The weather was great, the people were nice. The crowds seemed very excited to have me there and I wanted to bring the best out of my game in the tournament. There wasn’t a single trace of negativity or any negative outcome until the final.”
Tsitsipas was unable to topple fellow Top 10 star Alexander Zverev, who triumphed in straight sets. The Greek admitted he has played better matches, and coming close without lifting the trophy has motivated him to come back stronger in Miami.
“I can only learn from it and it is something that I cannot go back and fix,” Tsitsipas said. “I might as well just embrace it and move on stronger and take that as an example and as a lesson that I wouldn’t want to happen again in the near future or in any other final that I might play.”