World No 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas seemingly felt a bit lonely after only two reporters showed up to his press conference following his Australian Open second-round win. On Wednesday, Tsitsipas saw off Rinky Hijikata 6-3 6-0 6-2 to progress into the third round at Melbourne Park.
The same day, Rafael Nadal suffered a shock straight-set defeat to Mackenzie McDonald and that made all the headlines. “With all the attention that’s been on Djokovic this year for obvious reasons, and Rafa as well, do you feel like you’re flying under the radar a little bit?” Tsitsipas was asked.
Tsitsipas responded: “Well, I see two of you guys here tonight, maybe (smiling).”
Stef feeling lonely at his press conference, pic.twitter.com/St9mvGALsv — Vicky Georgatou (@VGeorgatou) January 18, 2023
Here is a video of Tsitsipas’ press conference.
And here the whole press conference is.https://t.co/sEMpAjt4dL — Liu Hsuan Hsin (@cindylss1116) January 18, 2023
Tsitsipas happy he easily got the job done against Hijikata
Tsitsipas earned the first break of the match in the sixth game and then held on to his serve the rest of the set to clinch the opener.
After winning the first set, Tsitsipas was absolutely dominant in the second set as he broke Hijikata three times and won the set without a game lost. In the third set, Hijikata had a 2-1 lead before Tsitsipas claimed back-to-back breaks and won five games in a row to finish the match in style.
“It felt good out there. The ball was coming out of the racquet really well. I really enjoyed myself, I was great for the entire match. I always enjoy playing on the Rod Laver Arena, I have some good memories here,” Tsitsipas said, per the ATP website.
Tsitsipas, 24, is working with Australian tennis legend Mark Philippoussis. “He brings a lot to the game. He has played amazing tennis himself in his career, won a lot of matches here and has tons of experience. He has been helping me a lot with serve and volley.
He has been helping with my offensive game,” Tsitsipas said of Philippoussis. In his next Australian Open match, Tsitsipas plays Tallon Griekspoor.
