Need to be selfish to nail the big fish: Stefanos Tsitsipas

Greek world No.3 tennis player Stefanos Tsitsipas wants to be a more "selfish player" as he aims to retain his year-end ATP ranking, while also targeting title wins in two major tournaments this year -- the Rolex Paris Masters and the ATP Finals in Turin.

Tsitsipas, who lost this year's French Open final to Serbian world No.1 Novak Djokovic in a tough five-setter, said that he would try to give his "last breath" on court in order to achieve success in the two year-end showpiece tournaments.

"I have two more (tournaments) left and I'm trying to give my last breath on the court and become more of a selfish player on the court, and unveil my killer attitude on the court," Tsitsipas told atptour.com on Sunday evening.

"You have to be this way. The best players in the world, they are very selfish and they want everything for themselves, and I'm this way too."

In a career-best season, which has included a maiden ATP Masters 1000 title and first Grand Slam final (Roland Garros), Tsitsipas says he is well aware of what separates the great players from the very best, and adds that his focus is on fine-tuning his shots and fitness in order to break into the top echelons.

"When I'm on the court I'm not mixing it up with my outside life, and I'm able to separate those two. I think once you become soft and start kind of getting into your emotions and feeling many things at once… it's not really good for you.


"So, blocking all of that and letting it pass through and just being able to stay in the moment, these are some qualities that top players have developed and are able to compete at such level, not really care what's happening on the other side of the court," added Tsitsipas.

The Greek added two career titles in 2021, winning his maiden ATP Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo, though he lost in the Vienna Open round-of-16 recently to American Frances Tiafoe.

Despite his premature exit at the All England, Tsitsipas reached back-to-back ATP Masters 1000 semifinals in Toronto and Cincinnati, but suffered surprise losses to young Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open, and Nikoloz Basilashvili in Indian Wells.


The competition in Paris will be tough with the top three -- Djokovic, Medvedev and Tsitsipas -- coming together in a tournament for the first time since the US Open, and Tsitsipas said Medvedev "has developed into one of the toughest players to face on Tour".

"Daniil has really perfected the game that he's playing that not many players can play. I mean, to call him 'Octopus' was for a reason. He's just able to get balls that not many people are able to… He has done very well this year," he said.

"We all saw what he did at the US Open … He's one of the most difficult opponents on the Tour, and I guess I'm able to learn from him, as well."-IANS