US OPEN

September 4, 2026

Stefanos Tsitsipas

Press Conference

S. TSITSIPAS/J. Lehecka

2-6, 6-1, 7-6, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations. Four-set win. Dominant fourth set. Your thoughts?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Not the best of starts to a match this crucial. I was not very pleased with the way the match started and how far back I found myself early in the match.

But I really had to, like, accept it, because, you know, a match can always evolute, a match can always kind of change and shift. The momentum has its waves, and it comes in waves.

I was just waiting to see maybe something might change during that match. And he seemed like he was kind of on fire starting the match. Wasn't giving too much rhythm to me.

Eventually I felt like a few changes and tweaks that I made to my game seemed to allow me to prevail a little bit more and stay in the set. It was not so much about starting to win. It was more about staying in the set and not dropping my serve.

Once I figured that out, you know, it was a battle of who's going to break first. And I did an exceptional job in the second and in the fourth set.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. You came into this tournament without a ton of momentum. Your ranking is down obviously from where it was a few years ago. Are you enjoying on some level having lower expectations of you and less pressure, maybe playing a little better as a result, do you think?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Yeah, I would say so. It's fair to say that. When you're high-ranked and, you know, you're seeded in this tournament, not just seeded, but one of the high seededs in a big Grand Slam like that, it kind of has the tendency to feel a little bit different when you step out on the court.

There isn't much for me to be worried about, I feel like, because I'm just playing and enjoying. If things go well, things go well.

In my mind, you know, trying to accept also this ancient Greek philosophy of, like, preparing for the worst-case scenario in my mind before I go out into the battlefield, before I go out into this war zone, let's just call it, I've already kind of embraced that there might be really bad scenarios.

It won't always be ideal the way I like it, so going into a match with that kind of mindset allows me to view what I'm doing out there slightly different than usually.

Before, I'd say too much optimism and too much confidence can also kill your game. I have learned it in different ways throughout my career.

Q. Your results the past few months, you've been on the climb. Would you say that's the technical, more mental, more physical fresh start with Patrick and company, or what would you attribute that to?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Well, let's first start from almost a whole year. Last year was missed because of my back. I wasn't able to build too much momentum going into tournaments. If I started having some sort of momentum in tournaments, my back started hurting.

So it was a very weird, wavy year in terms of not much consistency to what was going on throughout an entire season.

I played in Australia with back pain. I remember during the clay season, things kind of stabilized and I somehow felt a little bit better until I had to play, I think it was Fils in one of the Barcelona quarterfinals that I played there.

And then the back came back, and it just created a whole lot of uncertainty, and I already -- it creates a lot of worry. And when worry is around on a daily basis, it kills you.

I stopped enjoying practice because my body hurts. And going into a match, your first concern is am I going to finish a match. That's the number one thing, where before it wasn't even a question. Why would you stop a match because of pain?

So I felt like I was dealing with a lot of different battles internally but also physically. There was a lot of things coming here and there. It creates chaos within you. It creates a lot of frustration.

But, you know, I actually accepted it pretty well. I was able to accept it. If things don't go well, I know I'll have another route.

This season might have not been the best that I've had, but at least I wake up every single day, and I'm happy that I don't have any pain, and I know I can go practice without any uncertainty of how my body's going to respond.

Q. In Cincinnati, you were talking about, of course you had just gone through this coaching change, and you were saying you're at a certain age now you want to take more responsibility, make some calls on your own. Does it feel like this is happening at the right time?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I don't know if at the right time, but it is happening. That's one thing I can tell you.

In Greece, we have a saying, "It's better late than never," so I go by that.

Q. We don't know yet which of the two players you'll face, either Shapovalov or Shelton. You've played them both. If you wouldn't mind just addressing them separately so we're for prepared either possibility, starting with Shelton, what are your thoughts on how he's playing and the challenge it would be to face him?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: He's improved a lot since last time I played him. He was on the rise when I played him in Cincinnati a few years back. I have seen improvement in his game. He's also become more of a man now. Back then, he was still kind of a kid and relatively new to the tour.

So he's been building confidence, I feel like. He's got some good results, good wins, good Masters 1000 runs. He's now well-established on the tour. It's a very different Ben Shelton that I probably saw back then.

Yes, of course, it was important that I played him in the past, but I feel like it creates a whole different dynamic playing him now, because he's well matured, he has confidence, and he's had matches under his belt, where before, he was still kind of a rookie back then.

We all know that in any sport, it shifts, it changes. Like, players evolve, players change towards the better, in his case, I would imagine, because his ranking is very different to what it was back then.

Whoever gets to win tonight, they're both lefties, so I'm going to have to face a lefty, for sure.

Q. What do you remember most about Shapovalov, and what are your thoughts on the way he's making a comeback after some tough times?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I observed some of the matches that he played before. He's been on a good run. He seems like he's confident with his game.

I won't lie that I'm watching highlights whenever I can of all players, not just him particularly. I feel like it's a swing that he really likes and fits for his game style and the way he plays.

So, you know, it's good that he keeps the one-handed backhand alive, because there aren't a lot of players out there that still play the one-handed backhand.

In regards of his game, I really enjoy watching him play, I won't lie. He's got a nice, aggressive game when he's really on.

Q. It's been great to see you playing good tennis again and having fun out there on the court. You're someone who's not been afraid to tinker with your racquet over the years. In Cincinnati, I think you had a V5 Blade out there. Just talk about your racquet. What are you looking for in your racquet and your equipment? It seems that it's worked out this week for you.

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: V5, I don't think I have ever played that in my life.

Q. In Cincinnati?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: V5 would be something really, really old.

Q. You used an older model in Cincinnati, right?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: That's a V7, I believe.

Q. I mean V7, yeah.

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Yeah, no, look, I've gone through racquet changes, obviously. I have to admit also, it had a lot to do as well with my body. I'm talking about my lower back that was affected at the time.

I felt like throughout my entire career, I had to really use a lot of my body to play, and what I mean by that, it was a very condensed pattern that you had to really use your body more to get free power and you had to work for your shots much more.

So I was looking for a little bit more pop and power from my previous setup that I tried for a while that I played with. It didn't seem like over the course of time served my actual needs in terms of what I was looking for. Yes, it gave more power and more topspin and all of those things, and it felt, generally speaking, more easy to play with, but my identity is more linear, my game is more linear than that.

I was looking for something that feels like home. And what feels like home is the version that I'm playing with right now. It's the one that I grew up playing as a kid and the one I know the best.

I'm a player that requires control in my game, like I want to have control in my game, and I know the Blade is the best product out there that will allow me to get control, spin whenever I need it. I wouldn't say it's a racquet power necessarily, but it keeps those old traits of classical game and those modern aspects of today's game and kind of blends them together, allowing me to play the way I play.

And for the one-handed backhand, I feel like it's one of the best racquets out there on the market.