World No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas admitted Madrid doesn’t feel like a regular clay event as there is a high altitude and the conditions are different compared to other clay events.
Tsitsipas, 23, is set to make his fourth appearance in Madrid so he is not a stranger to the conditions in Madrid.
“I didn’t do anything in particular to adapt here. I just trained normally, arrived a little earlier. It’s different from tennis on clay. You don’t really feel like you’re in a clay court tournament, because you’re dealing with the altitude more than the clay itself. So that’s the ultimate challenge you have to work on. The hits are different. It’s much more difficult to open the court because you’re dealing with higher and heavier balls. It’s more about trying to get the ball in the court than playing deep and with a lot of precision,” Tsitsipas said, as quoted on We Love Tennis.
Tsitsipas aims his first Madrid title
Tsitsipas made his Madrid debut in 2018, when he suffered a surprise defeat to Evgeny Donskoy.
Tsitsipas didn’t have a memorable debut in Madrid but returned to the tournament in 2019 and reached the final.
In the 2019 Madrid final, Tsitsipas suffered a straight-set defeat to world No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
Last year, Tsitsipas didn’t enjoy an impressive campaign as he was beaten in the round-of-16 by Casper Ruud.
Tsitsipas has had a good clay season so far and he is among top contenders for the Madrid title.
Tsitsipas kicked off his clay season three weeks ago in Monte Carlo, where he won his first title of the year.
Tsitsipas then played in Barcelona, where he made the quarterfinal before losing to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz.
Tsitsipas is seeded at No. 4 in the Madrid main draw and he has a first round bye at the tournament.
Tsitsipas will meet either Lucas Pouille or Karen Khachanov in the Madrid second round.