Stefanos Tsitsipas blames himself in brutally honest admission after shocking Australian Open 1R exit

Stefanos Tsitsipas opened up on his shocking opening-round exit to Alex Michelsen at the 2025 Australian Open. The Greek's sacrifices to feel fresher during the latter stage of the Happy Slam were massively derailed.

Tsitsipas was seeded 11th at the Australian Open, where he made it to the final in 2023. He kicked off against America's rising star Alex Michelsen, who handed him a shock 7-5, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 defeat. The last time he suffered an opening round exit in Melbourne was in 2018. Since then, he has reached the semifinals thrice and one final.

During the post-match press conference, Stefanos Tsitsipas discussed how he withdrew from the men's doubles, alongside his brother Petros, in order to feel fresher during the latter stages. He felt 'karma' hit him for withdrawing from doubles and dubbed the situation 'ironic', blaming himself.

“It’s quite ironic. My whole [idea] was to try to go deep into the Australian Open. I knew the first thing I had to consider was not playing doubles,” Tsitsipas said. “I guess karma hit me. I was not able to deliver or play the way I was hoping to at this year's event. The whole purpose was just to save up on some energy and be fresher hopefully in the deeper draw of the tournament.”

Stefanos Tsitsipas' run in Australia has come to an end in 2025.

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"I would actually say that I'm a better player now" - Stefanos Tsitsipas dubs his current self the better version of himself

Stefanos Tsitsipas - Source: Getty

Stefanos Tsitsipas reached the semifinals of the 2019 Australian Open, scoring a huge win against Roger Federer in the fourth round. During the same press conference, he discussed his journey and mentioned how being a mainstay on the tour for the past few years has helped him see the different varieties of the game.

“I've been quite well-established in the last couple of years, and I have seen the game, and I have seen all variations of games around the Tour. I've done the Tour over and over again, the same circle of tournaments and events. I've experienced what it is to be on the ATP Tour. I feel like there was a different energy, a different dynamic back then.

The 26-year-old opined his current version was a better player than that of 2019, despite his opening round exit in 2025.

“I would actually say that I'm a better player now than I was back then. So even though I'm losing now and I'm not at my best, I feel like I'm much better as a player than back then where I felt like my shots were not as heavy in terms of topspin. I was playing much more flat and much more through the court.”

Stefanos Tsitsipas, currently ranked 12th, has a huge chance of tumbling down the rankings. The Greek made it to the fourth round last year and will lose all those ranking points.