Stefanos Tsitsipas emotionally shares the "most frustrating" part of losing early after Australian Open shocker

Stefanos Tsitsipas made a shocking first-round exit from the Australian Open 2025. The 11th seed lost 5-7, 3-6, 6-2, 4-6 to Alex Michelsen in Melbourne on Monday, January 13.

The Greek, who had made the final of the Australian Open in 2023, was hoping to make a deep run this year as well but his campaign was cut short in the first hurdle.

Reflecting on his loss, Tsitsipas spoke about how agonizing it was to lose early into a tournament as big as the Melbourne Major.

“The most frustrating part about losing in the first round of a Grand Slam is that you have way too much time to recover, and I would rather have the other way around where I don't have enough time to recover. Honestly, that's much, much better in terms of problem-solving,” Tsitsipas said via ATPTour.com.

Stefanos Tsitsipas, known for his anger outbursts on the court, also spoke about how difficult life is on the Tour. Since there are no other big competitions on the calendar until the end of the Australian Open, he would be forced to wait a long time before his next competition.

“It just sucks in a way that I'll be around, hanging around, for quite a while now before my next tournament comes in,” he added.

This was the second time, in as many attempts, that Stefanos Tsitsipas has made a first-round exit at a Grand Slam. In his last Grand Slam appearance, he lost in the US Open’s first round to Thanasi Kokkinakis.

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No doubles at Australian Open 2025 for Stefanos Tsitsipas

A frustrated Stefanos Tsitsipas. Source: Getty

What made the defeat worse for Stefanos Tsitsipas was the fact that he was scheduled to compete in the men’s doubles alongside his brother Petros, but he opted against it in the hope of conserving energy for his singles campaign.

“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 in the same interaction.

“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,” he added.

With his campaign coming to an early end, Tsitsipas will look to cheer on his girlfriend Paula Badosa. The 11th-seeded Spaniard will face Talia Gibson in the women’s second round on Wednesday, January 13.