"I would like to apologize" - Stefanos Tsitsipas addresses his comments on Andrey Rublev made during ATP Finals

Stefanos Tsitsipas has apologized for his remarks on fellow top-10 player Andrey Rublev made shortly after his loss to the Russian at the 2022 Nitto ATP Finals in Turin.

Having lost a round-robin match to Rublev in three tight sets, Tsitsipas claimed to have been the better player in the contest. Dubbing the remarks "very unfair" in a recent interview with Arab News, the Greek No. 1 said she made the comments in a bid to fire Rublev up for his next match — before reiterating that it was not the right approach.

“What I said in that press conference against Rublev was very unfair towards him and not correct. I saw it from a sort of different approach; I wanted him to be mad going into his next match , trying to play even better. I’m not going to declare the reasons why because I think it’s quite obvious the situation I was dealing with in the next match if (I) had played that opponent,” he said.

“I really wanted Andrey to win the next match and my approach was to add fuel to the fire a little bit, to make him want to be more hungry and more concentrated on his next match. I think that was wrong to do, because it felt like, I don’t know, he wasn’t able to perform, I saw the match, I don’t think he performed as good as I would have expected him to perform,” he added.

Stefanos Tsitsipas said he regretted making the comments before adding that he would definitely want to apologize to Rublev when they meet next.

“So if I regret saying that? I do regret saying that, yes," . "It was not very good for me, I was extremely hurt that I wasn’t able to go all the way at the ATP Finals, it hurt me a lot, I tried to let some bad energy out but that wasn’t the responsible or the good way, even if I wanted something out of it, it wasn’t the right way to do it,” he expressed.

“Definitely if I would see him I would like to apologize to him for thinking like this about him because it’s definitely not how I think about him in reality. There are a few things I can improve and manage better in order to get there, but overall if you think about it, I was literally two matches away (from) finishing (as) World No. 1,” he concluded.

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"He’s sort of like the Marat Safin of the new generation" - Stefanos Tsitsipas on Andrey Rublev

Stefanos Tsitsipas also dubbed Andrey Rublev an "excellent player" later in the interview, adding that the Russian possessed a "great array of weapons".

Likening Rublev's ball striking to that of Marat Safin's, the Greek star said Rublev was not "limited" and lauded him for his discipline on the court and his professionalism.

“Andrey is an excellent player. He has a great array of weapons that he uses extremely well on the court. He can hit the ball really hard, he’s sort of like the Marat Safin of the new generation,” Stefanos Tsitsipas said.

“I don’t think he’s limited in his game. I think he’s put himself over many years now on the tour that he’s capable of competing against the best. He’s one of the most disciplined guys out here, who is very professional towards his work. He’s a very funny guy, a very nice soul, I enjoy being around him. He’s extremely friendly and likes to make fun of himself,” he added.

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