Stefanos Tsitsipas has released an emotional statement following his exit from the Madrid Open. Tsitsipas had beaten three opponents to reach the last-16 stage in the Spanish capital, and pushed Casper Ruud all the way throughout the three-set battle.
The Greek ace took the first set by virtue of a tiebreak, which proved a common theme for the remainder of the contest, with both the second and third sets going all the way. Unfortunately for Tsitsipas, he ended up on the wrong side of the result, with Ruud eventually progressing into the quarter-finals.
It’s a bitter blow for Tsitsipas, who hadn’t won three matches at a single ATP event since the Dubai Tennis Championships over a year ago. Reacting to the loss, the 27-year-old took to social media, saying: “I felt like myself again on the court yesterday, which is why the outcome hurts. But sometimes you have to take the pain just to feel alive.
“Congrats to Casper – he’s a champion and I wish him the best in his title defence. The journey continues into Rome.”
It’s been a brutal 12 months for Tsitsipas, who has been forced to battle his way through a back injury to get himself back on track. It got so bad, Tsitsipas didn’t play an official match from September 2025 all the way through to January this year.
Speaking about his injury problems at the Madrid Open, he explained: “When I was injured I lost passion and love for the game. I kept showing up though. Despite my injury in the back, I kept showing up on court and trying to make the most out of it.
“It’s frustrating when you’re always injured and you’re always feeling hurt. It doesn’t make you love the game too much. I can finally kind of say that, going back into the court now, it feels a really joyful thing to do. Like, there isn’t much of stress whether I’m going to be fit enough because of my back.”
Before adding: “I need a bit more confidence in my game. I think wins are important, and why wins are important is because they start building trust and faith, that you still got it.
“When you’re stepping out on the court, and you are kind of winless, you don’t have a lot of wins under your belt, it doesn’t help, feeling prepared and feeling like you got this to the fullest, to the maximum.”