Stefanos Tsitsipas reached the final of Roland Garros in 2021, but the Greek’s adventure in Paris this year was shorter (he was eliminated in the quarterfinals). After losing to Carlos Alcaraz, the fifth favorite tried to explain the modest development of events in the first part of the match.

Stefanos TsitsipasPhoto: Matthieu Mirville/DPPI/Shutterstock Editorial/Profimedia

Carlos defeated Stefanos in three sets with a score of 6-2, 6-1, 7-6(5). The game lasted two hours and 13 minutes.

Stefanos Tsitsipas says he fell asleep during his match against Carlos Alcaraz

Concerned about his match schedule (the third round and round of 16 finished after 21:00 and the quarters started at 20:30), Tsitsipas said he took melatonin because he was not well rested. , and then fell asleep while playing with Alcaraz.

“He played well. It wasn’t exceptional tennis, but he played well. But one thing I have to avoid in the future is taking melatonin pills and taking a little nap before the game, because it’s not too good for me.

The schedule has been pretty tight these past few days. I had sessions at night, not too late, but late enough to disrupt my sleep schedule.

And sleep is vital, it is necessary. Recovery is paramount during competition, especially at Grand Slam tournaments.

I made this mistake again before playing with Novak in Bersa last year. In the first two sets, we showed the same result as today. So, melatonin has such an effect!

But I don’t want to take anything that belongs to Carlos. He’s a guy who plays very well and we don’t discuss that.” – Stefanos Tsitsipasat the press conference.

Know:

  • Carlos Alcaraz has won 7 of his last 8 matches against ATP top 5 players. The Spaniard has also won 25 of his last 27 matches on clay.
  • Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic will meet in the semifinals of Roland Garros. They have only met once before, with the Spaniard winning (5)6-7, 7-5, 7-6(5) in the semi-finals of the Madrid Masters (2022).

The Roland Garros tournament takes place from May 28 to June 11, has a total prize pool of 49.6 million euros, and is the 127th tournament. Iga Sviatek and Rafael Nadal (14-time winner in Paris) became the champions of the title.

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