Tsitsipas Looking For Answers After Cincinnati Final Defeat | ATP Tour

Stefanos Tsitsipas is sometimes nicknamed the ‘Greek Philosopher’ as he often uses Twitter to post thoughtful and analytical content, but following Sunday’s loss to Borna Coric in the Cincinnati final, the World No. 5 admitted that he was lacking answers to his straight-sets defeat.

“I’m still looking for the answer myself. I don’t have a clear answer,” Tsitsipas said of the loss. “He was obviously the opposite of what I was, very much involved. Sometimes it makes you not be that much present in the moment when you’re too relaxed.

“I think he was serving well. He was making me move a lot. I could have used my chances in the first set. I don’t know why I didn’t. I rushed a little bit.”

Despite the loss, Tsitsipas holds a Tour-leading 46 wins in 2022 and his run to the final at the Western & Southern Open lifts him to second in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin. His runner-up finish Sunday in Ohio follows two semi-final exits at the event in the previous two years.

Boasting a Tour-leading 19 ATP Masters 1000 wins in 2022, Tsitsipas ousted World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev in the Cincinnati semi-finals to advance to his fifth final of the season. He also reached the final in Rotterdam and Rome and claimed the trophy in Monte Carlo and Mallorca.

The 24-year-old now sets his sights on his first run to the second week at the US Open, where he is one of several players who will have a chance to become World No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Tsitsipas has endured heartbreaking losses in New York the past two seasons. Last year, he lost a fifth-set tie-break to Carlos Alcaraz in the third round. In 2020, the Greek held six match points against Coric in the third round, but failed to convert.

The 2019 Nitto ATP Finals champion offered this praise of Coric in his post-match press conference. “The less he misses, the more he makes your life difficult. He’s like a Daniil Medvedev almost but hitting the ball a bit harder, adding a bit more topspin to the ball, opening the court. Basically his ball has a little bit more weight to it when it comes off your strings.”