Stefanos Tsitsipas hopes to ‘perform at 100%’ at Australian Open, but injury concerns remain
Stefanos Tsitsipas believes he is “heading in the right direction” as he recovers from an elbow injury and is looking to be at his best for the Australian Open.
In November, Tsitsipas withdrew from both the Paris Masters and the ATP Finals as he struggled with an elbow injury which looks to have flared up upon his return from the off-season.
The World number four made his return by representing Greece at the ATP Cup in preparation for the upcoming Australian Open, which is just two weeks away.
Tsitsipas withdrew from his opening match against Polish World number nine Hubert Hurkacz and was then defeated by Argentine Diego Schwartzman 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 3-6.
Despite the loss, Tsitsipas said he was pleased with his performance as he looks to return to full fitness before the first Grand Slam of the season.
In a press conference following the defeat, the Greek said “it was good to see myself perform at such a level. I didn’t expect it.
“It worked out better than I thought. I was able to hit balls that I was scared to hit two weeks ago, so I’m heading towards the right direction.
“I’m in a little bit of pain. That’s normal. I served more serves than I have ever served in the last month. I served nearly 180 serves today.
“I have been practising, trying to get 50, 60 serves in, and today I really went far. I was fatiguing in the end,” Tsitsipas revealed.
“I’d love to play [the next match], but I really don’t know how I’m going to feel tomorrow. That was one of the biggest concerns if I’m going to play this match today, how is the recovery going to be tomorrow.
“So I’m really hoping to be able to walk on court tomorrow and practise some serves without pain. That’s my biggest goal right now, to have 100 per cent recovery on my elbow,” the Greek outlined.
“It gets better and better every single day almost… we have plenty of time before the Australian Open begins (two weeks), and I think if I take the right precautions and follow what my doctor says, then I can see myself performing at 100 per cent at the Australian Open.
“Going into that surgery, even the doctor was unsure if it’s a good idea to perform and play the Australian Open. My recovery was much better than he would have expected… so he was surprised.”
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