Thus spoke Stefanos Tsitsipas

On Tuesday, the BOSS OPEN’s number 1 took the stage during a pretty humurous press conference.

How are the conditions here?

Stefanos Tsitsipas: It’s great. I haven’t been here before and didn’t know what to expect. It’s great. Great to play in a real club, which makes it very personal. I like that. I’m not a huge fan of playing in places without history or created from scratch. I already explored the city, which is something I usually don’t do. It’s the first grass court tournament of the year for me and the first since last year. I’ll try to give my best.

You are here with your parents and are playing doubles with your brother.

This is very special, as we don’t play together that much. What we have is very special and we deserve to play in ATP events this year. I’m very thankful to the people who made that possible. Doubles is the most special thing sometimes in playing events like this, especially when I’m with my brother. It’s great to mix personal business like playing in the singles, but also have some family action with my brother. It’s a dream come true, playing with my brother.

You are battling for no. 1 in the world. After the grass court season, we have a different situation in the rankings. Is the ranking important for you?

Most important is the race ranking for me, I never look at the other rankings. That doesn’t really justify the performance of a player. All my attention is on the Race to Turin. That’s where you see progress and where you need to be to get where you want. I try to get as many points from each surface. Different surfaces, different goals.

When did you first play on grass and how did you change?

I never really played on grass at home. First time was in juniors five or six years ago in Roehampton. In the beginning you don’t know what to expect. You try to swing normally, but everything is different. Bounce, swing, footwork. You have to edit your tennis. I loved the surface from the beginning. I think it suits my game perfect. I like coming to the net and finishing with a volley. I used to serve and volley a lot in my junior years. With time that changed because we are not in the 80ies anymore. I went to a more balanced game.

You’ve been here since Saturday. What did you do in Stuttgart?

I did some underwear shopping (laughs). I had some great ice-cream. I love ice-cream! I bought a fire extinguisher for my apartment at home. I saw it in a shop and thought I needed one, just in case.