Stefanos Tsitsipas blamed lethargy brought on by medication and a change in sleeping patterns at the French Open for his shoddy straight-sets loss to Carlos Alcaraz at Roland Garros.
The quarter-final drubbing – 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (5) – took just two and a quarter hours and sent the 20-year-old Spaniard into the semi-finals against Novak Djokovic.
“One thing that I’m going to try to avoid in the future is taking melatonin pills and naps before matches because it clearly doesn’t seem to be working,” the disgruntled Greek said.
Tsitsipas added: “The schedule has been a little bit difficult the last few days. I had some late-night sessions..not super late, but late enough for me to have my sleep schedule ruined, in a way.
“Sleep is a very vital important thing, and recovery is “the” most important thing when competing and playing Slams.”
The fifth seed admitted he’s gotten it wrong in the past as well.
“Before playing Novak in Bercy (last November) and I had the exact same score as I did in those first two sets. So I feel like melatonin really likes 1 and 2 (scorelines).
“I’m really bummed about (this) that it had such an effect on me, let’s move on.”
Main photo:- Stefanos Tsitsipas congratulates Carlos Alcaraz after losing quarter final in straight sets by Roger Parker International Sports Fotos Ltd
