Stefanos Tsitsipas suffers shock first-round loss to Daniel Galán at US Open
He didn’t have a point on his racket, didn’t look like he had fought hard in that match, and didn’t look like he was about to have energy for the next one, either. In fact, he looked like he should have been in bed in the first place.
It was all over in the fourth set, when Stefanos Tsitsipas — the 23-year-old world No. 34 — collapsed on court, lost his serve, and dropped a tough 7-6 (10-8), 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (7-3), 6-0, 7-6 (3-7) defeat to world No. 1 Daniel Galán of the US Open.
But for the Spaniard it was far from a complete loss. A 6-4, 6-1, 6-4 winner in the second set on the weekend, Tsitsipas, who entered the US Open as the world’s top-ranked player, rallied from 2-4 down in the second to take his first career title.
“In the beginning I think I was losing. But I was losing because Daniel was serving strong. I lost some matches because after losing I didn’t have energy to win the next one,” Tsitsipas said during a video conference with his coaching staff immediately after the loss. “I was not feeling good. I was not feeling good in that match because I was lacking energy. I was lacking energy in the second set and I was lacking energy in the third set, too. I was not feeling good. Then, after that, I was waiting on the server: “Do you want to serve, yes?” And then I wasn’t sure about what to do. I was not feeling good.”
A little more than an hour later, Tsitsipas was already back in the locker room, doing what he does best.
In the second set, Tsitsipas took an easy forehand to win an ace. In the third set, he missed his second serve for the first time in the match, ending a run of five consecutive errors, and broke serve. And then, in