Stefanos Tsitsipas said it was “a shame” he lost versus Andrey Rublev as he felt he was “the better player.” On Friday night in Turin, Rublev recovered from a set down to beat Tsitsipas 3-6 6-3 6-2. By beating Tsitsipas, Rublev clinched the last semifinal spot at the ATP Finals.
Tsitsipas got off to a good start to the match but Rublev refused to quit and it paid off as the Russian staged a comeback win.
Tsitsipas shades Rublev
“I was serving well. I found the spots, you know? I mean, he’s a good returner.
Nothing to take away from him. He played a lot of returns in. I tried to mix it up at the end. I didn’t really feel threatened. I just wanted to try something new, to see if it might work and throw him off a little bit. Yeah, we had a very long game towards the end where I kept trying new things.
I can say things were coming off the racquet pretty good from his side. It’s a shame. I feel like the better player. I felt like I could do more with the ball today. I felt like I could just be much more creative. I don’t even have to say that.
I think it’s quite obvious. But, yeah, he prevailed with the few tools that he has. He was able to really take advantage of them and win today,” Tsitsipas said after the match. Earlier this year, Tsitsipas defeated Rublev twice.
This time, it was Rublev who ended on the winning side. With his loss to Rublev, Tsitsipas’ 2022 season officially came to an end. Tsitsipas entered the ATP Finals with a chance to claim the Year-End No 1 ranking. In Turin, Tsitsipas needed to win all three of his group stage matches and to then win the title in order to reach the world No 1 position. Since Tsitsipas failed to do so, Carlos Alcaraz ended as the Year-End No 1.
