World No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas was straight honest after a shock US Open exit as he admitted his level was “close to an amateur.”
Tsitsipas was the absolute favorite to beat 94th-ranked Daniel Elahi Galan but the Colombian qualifier claimed a shock 6-0 6-1 3-6 7-5 victory.
Galan started the match with a stunning 6-0 5-0 lead but Tsitsipas was able to bounce back in the third set and cut the deficit to two sets to one.
In the fourth set, Tsitsipas earned an early break and it looked like the match was going five sets.
But Tsitsipas’ level dropped again as Galan was able to close out the match in four sets after realizing his ninth match point.
Tsitsipas: I couldn’t get into the match, it was as if I was half dead
“My arm was pretty tight, nothing was coming off my strokes,” Tsitsipas said after the match, via Eurosport. “I felt like my serve was very slow today, but it was close to the 120s, so I wouldn’t necessarily say that it was. But he returned great, extremely well. I’m pretty sure it has to do with the altitude where he grew up for sure helps a lot with this kind of stuff. It crossed my mind when I started playing him that might be due to that. He did a great job, he dominated the game completely. I just couldn’t get into the match at all, it was as if I was half-dead. He played like a world-class player and I played like close to an amateur, not very nice to say that, but that’s what happened. I was very well prepared, I was playing very well in practice, had some really good matches against different kinds of players. I felt like the momentum was in my favour, I just might have felt a little tense going into the match.”
It was yet another disappointing Grand Slam result for Tsitsipas in 2022.
After losing in the French Open last-16 and exiting Wimbledon in the third round, Tsitsipas absolutely disappointed in the final Grand Slam of the year.