‘Stefanos Tsitsipas Faces Disheartening Seven-Year Low After Shock Roland-Garros Defeat to Unheralded Italian’

Stefanos Tsitsipas expressed frustration with himself over “immaturity” after experiencing a disappointing setback at Roland-Garros on Thursday (AEST), marking his earliest exit from the tournament in seven years.

The two-time Grand Slam finalist was eliminated in the second round, succumbing 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 to the unseeded Matteo Gigante. This defeat is his earliest at Roland-Garros since 2018.

This loss will also see the 26-year-old drop out of the world’s top 20 rankings for the first time since 2018.

The powerful Greek had reached the French Open final in 2021, where he faced a heartbreaking defeat in five sets against Novak Djokovic after winning the opening two sets.

Tsitsipas progressed to the quarter-finals on the previous two occasions in Paris and made the semis in 2020, again losing to Djokovic.

“I had higher expectations of myself going into these two weeks,” Tsitsipas reflected.

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“I felt like I was occasionally playing immaturely during the match,” Tsitsipas admitted.

The 20th seed was critical of himself for handing Gigante easy points, as he racked up 49 unforced errors on the Court Simonne-Mathieu.

“I didn’t feel completely present in the moment,” Tsitsipas admitted. “I would characterise that as immaturity, as not knowing how to navigate through those situations.”

Throughout the match, Tsitsipas found himself troubled by Gigante’s effective drop shots and his overall athleticism.

The Italian sealed his victory with an ace, receiving a warm embrace from Tsitsipas at the net post-match.

“I must credit my opponent, he played exceptional tennis,” Tsitsipas stated. “He handled the pressure with great poise.”

Despite not having secured a title on the ATP tour and previously never advancing past the first round in a major, Gigante remarked, “This is definitely my biggest win.”

This defeat marks Tsitsipas’ second consecutive major tournament exit against an unseeded opponent, following his first-round loss to Alex Michelsen earlier in the year at the Australian Open, where he was the runner-up.

“I really need to learn to apply my experience more judiciously,” he said.

Next up for Gigante is a match against 13th seed Ben Shelton from the USA in the third round.