Masters Monte Carlo – Boris Becker warns Stefanos Tsitsipas: “Otherwise there will be problems of self-confidence”

June 13, 2021 could have been, if not had to be, his big day. In the Roland-Garros final, Stefanos Tsitsipas was already leading 2-0 sets against Novak Djokovic when he went to the clay court of the legendary Court Philippe Chatrier for the third round.

Tsitsipas, on the other hand, had to wait for the big hit – until today. At Wimbledon he didn’t even make it past the first round, at the US Open it was over in the third round, at the Australian Open in January he failed in the semi-final against Daniil Medvedev.

And while Medvedev came close to celebrating his second Grand Slam title in Melbourne a few months after his US Open triumph, Tsitsipas appears to be stalling in his development.

Becker: Roland-Garros for Tsitsipas “an emotional shock”

The 54-year-old is worried about the Greek’s latest results: “Form has lagged for six months. He started quite well in Melbourne. The semi-finals went really well, but he didn’t drop out the big hit since. then.”

After that, he only reached the final of the Rotterdam tournament, where he was beaten by Félix Auger-Aliassime. At the last Indian Wells and Miami Masters, it was over in the third round or in the round of 16.

Following his 2019 ATP Finals triumph, Tsitsipas, alongside then-NextGen Alexander Zverev, was seen as the biggest challenger and potential successor to Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

Now, at 23, he’s still quite young – but new, even younger “young savages” are already emerging, stirring up the best in the world.

Becker: Suddenly Tsitsipas is overtaken by Alcaraz

In Miami, Tsitsipas felt it firsthand. In the round of 16, he lost to the Spanish prodigy Carlos Alcaraz. The 18-year-old then stormed to his maiden Masters title.

“There you go, now he is even overtaken from the left by the young Spaniard Alcaraz. There are other young people who are hitting. I think Sebastian Korda is very strong”, analyzed Becker before the Monte-Carlo Masters.

Tsitsipas is also there. On Thursday, after 1:52, he prevailed 7:5, 7:6 (7:1) against Serbian Laslo Djere, who however also had to struggle with thigh problems towards the end of the second set.

Tsitsipas in Monte-Carlo defending champion

A significant sense of accomplishment for the fifth in the world ranking. Just like the Monte Carlo Masters is usually very important for him. Born in Athens, he is the reigning champion of the principality. It is therefore approximately 1000 world ranking points that he must defend.

Last November, Tsitsipas was third in the ATP rankings, his best ranking to date. “He’s now a bit in between, where he doesn’t know: yes, am I only good enough for world number three or four?” Becker says of the Greek’s current situation. These are high level complaints, there are 1000 players who are worse. But: “Of course he wants to be one, of course he wants to win a Grand Slam, and there’s still something missing at the moment.”

The German tennis legend hopes the clay-court season will help Tsitsipas get back on the path to success. “Sand is his best surface, he won Monte Carlo last year. In fact, he should be fine now,” Becker said.

Becker: “Tsitsipas must continue with victories”

However, if the sense of accomplishment continues to wane, he fears Eurosport expert also mental difficulties. “He must now follow up with the victories, otherwise he will have confidence problems,” explains Becker.

In the Monte-Carlo quarter-finals, Tsitsipas will now face Diego Schwartzman. This is a first because the two clay court specialists have never faced each other on the ATP circuit.

The Argentine is also currently struggling with his form. At Indian Wells he was knocked out in the third round, at the Miami Masters he lost his opening match to Thanasi Kokkinakis.

The world number 16 is on clay. however, also to be rated more strongly than on hard ground. In Monte Carlo he beat Karen Khachanov, Márton Fucsovics and Lorenzo Musetti. Nonetheless, he could be the perfect challenge for Tsitsipas right now to regain his old form.

And this may be the start of a solid clay-court season, at the end of which June 5 could be Tsitsipas’ big day. Then, the Roland-Garros final will take place in Paris.

Eurosport tennis podcast: The yellow of the ball with Boris Becker