Stefanos Tsitsipas has taken a page out of a book that’s been paged through by some of the biggest servers in tennis.
While powering his way into the second round of Australian Open 2024 with a three-hour 5-7 6-1 6-1 6-3 victory over lucky loser Zizou Bergs on Monday, the seventh seed introduced a service technique favoured by some of his closest rivals.
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Rather than his traditional platform stance, where feet remain apart during the entire motion, Tsitsipas often employed a pinpoint stance against Bergs, tucking his back foot next to his front foot before pushing off the court.
“It’s tactical … it’s something that I’ve been working on,” Tsitsipas said during his on-court interview, prompting a smile from his father and coach. “You can find different angles.”
“A lot of players follow that serve technique,” added the Greek star, name-checking Jannik Sinner and Alex Zverev. “They are very good servers.”
Tsitsipas, who began trialling the stance over the past few days, said he’s happy that it began working after early teething problems.
“At that point today, it felt like I had my worst first serve percentage ever in my career,” said the thoughtful right-hander, who landed just 46 per cent of first serves during the opening set.
“But I did find that rhythm, I did find that balance on my serve towards the second and third set, so things seem to be turning around."
Tsitsipas placed 51 per cent of first serves in the second set, a figure that dramatically improved to 79 per cent and 68 per cent in the third and the fourth respectively.
“My percentages got better, so automatically my whole game just became a much bigger game to be facing against,” he said.
Tsitsipas, the AO 2023 runner-up, said he can avoid rotating as part of the new stance, and in doing so, can keep his body more compact on contact points. He said the move is unrelated to his health, noting that he’s happy with both his physicality and mental game.
“I'm healthy, I'm headed [in] the right direction,” Tsitsipas said, describing his recovery from a back injury that plagued him at the ATP Finals and forced his withdrawal from a United Cup singles match as “astonishing”.
Tsitsipas’ body was indeed tested by Bergs, the 24-year-old who replaced Matteo Berrettini in the draw. The Belgian saved nine of 16 break points during the match, fired first and second serves that were on average faster than his Greek rival, and finished with 52 winners, outpacing the 38 off his foe’s racquet.
“Zizou did a great job today trying to make it as difficult as he could for me,” said Tsitsipas, referring to Bergs’ first name, derived from the nickname of French footballer Zinedine Zidane.
“Those last three sets … it felt like I was really pushing my opponent to the limit and I was there in terms of putting returns in and pressing as much as I could,” he observed.
“I did a great job there, coming up with powerful shots, pressing early on during the rallies."
One rally in particular is being aired in highlight reels across the globe.
After being shown a replay of the point during his on-court interview, Tsitsipas expressed disbelief.
“That shot was extraordinary, I don’t know how I even got that shot,” Tsitsipas said, after doing everything in his power not to touch the net while he executed the improbable winner.
“I thought for a split second that when he hit that underspin volley that, ‘that’s it, I’ll have to prepare for the next point’ but I guess not wanting to give up, and just giving it a try, gave me that point which I believe turned around the match in that particular moment.”
In the second round, the two-time Grand Slam finalist will face off against Australian Jordan Thompson, who outlasted countryman Aleksandar Vukic in a five-set marathon.
The world no.47, who upset Rafael Nadal during the Brisbane International, won his most recent clash against Tsitsipas at Indian Wells last year.
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“I'm hoping to go out there and show the similar level of tennis that I did after the second set today and keep it that way,” said Tsitsipas.
While he’ll be facing an Australian, the former world No.3 reckons the crowd will provide ample encouragement.
“I know I have a great fan base, I have a great crowd by my side,” he said.
“This gives me belief, this gives me an additional type of confidence that is not typically there [in] other tournaments.
“[The] Aussie summer can’t be compared to any season during the year, and I absolutely love being here.”