Roland Garros: My ego tells me I want more, says Stefanos Tsitsipas

Stefanos Tsitsipas overcame everything Daniil Medvedev threw at him, including an underarm serve, to reach the semifinals at Roland Garros. After an intense battle, the Greek player prevailed in three tight sets 6-3, 7-6, 7-5 on Tuesday. Tsitsipas had worked his way to match point on Medvedev’s serve in the third set. The second-seeded Russian then hit the most unexpected shot – an underarm serve. But Tsitsipas seemed to read it perfectly as he blasted a backhand winner up the line to clinch the victory in emphatic style.

“A very millennial shot, so true,” the fifth seed commented in his post-match press conference. “Well, once he took like a short break, I saw he stopped. I felt like there was something coming up, so at that point I think I got prepared for it. It’s that, like, less of a second when you realise something is about to change from a regular [serve]. It was fine. I [did] what I had to do.”

The 22-year-old Greek player has been in impressive form of late and he was at the top of his game again on Tuesday. He has dropped only one set – in the third round against John Isner – en route to the last four in Paris.

“I’m playing good. That will show by itself,” Tsitsipas said. “I don’t think there’s a player out there [in the draw] that thinks they can’t win the tournament. I’m pretty sure they all know they can play well.

“Of course I’m playing good [too], and I think if I keep repeating the process, keep repeating the everyday hustle that I put [in], for sure there’s going to be a reward. And why not?”

After reaching the Grand Slam semifinal, the Greek player told the media that he is hungry for more. Sixth seed Alexander Zverev (24) will stand between Tsitsipas and his first appearance in the final of a major. It will be the youngest French Open semifinal since Rafael Nadal, 22, defeated Novak Djokovic, 21, in 2008.

On the back of his impressive run, Tsitsipas wants more going forward in the tournament. “I feel privileged that I’m in that position,” Tsitsipas said. “I feel obviously I’ve put in a lot of daily hard work and [that] has been a key element of me being here. But my ego tells me I want more.”