“I need to play more tennis to assess my situation”

After undergoing surgery on his right elbow in late 2021, Stefanos Tsitsipas (fourth in the world rankings) returned to the courts in the ATP Cup to defend his country’s colors and did an analysis of how his body responded and played.

As a precaution, the world number four decided not to participate in the first singles match against him Hubert Hurkacz (9º) And he started right into the doubles, where he managed to save the victory with Michael Pervolarakis (399 degrees).

Already at a crossroads with Argentina, in a battle that lasted two hours and 43 minutes against Diego Schwartzman (13 degrees)The Greek admitted happiness despite the defeat: “It came out better than expected. It was a very tough match and I enjoyed it. I was able to deliver some punches I dreaded a couple of weeks ago, so I’m moving in the right direction.“

Despite this, the pain in the right elbow was still present: “I feel some pain, that’s normal. You hit more serve than the entire previous month. Today it went much further. I got tired at the endHe commented at a press conference after the duel with him Small.

However, the final switch against Georgia left him with a slightly bitter taste of how things turned out: giving up Nikoloz Basilashvili (22 degrees) When they were barely 4-1 in the first round and the defeat in the doubles didn’t allow him to make a definitive analysis of his arm and tennis level: “I haven’t really had the chance to play a lot of matches. I’ve only had two singles matches, not even two matches, a game and a half, and less than a half. I can’t really say how much better it is at this point. I need to play more tennis to assess my situation“.

With a farewell week, Stefanos Tsitsipas will focus on his first big challenge: Australian Open.