Stefanos Tsitsipas suffers an absolute disaster in Davis Cup as Greece crash out

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Stefanos Tsitsipas endured a tough weekend of Davis Cup action as Greece crashed out ahead of the finals in 2024. With a demanding schedule of back-to-back matches against Slovakia on Sunday, the world No 5 came up short in both of his assignments.

Tsitsipas first began struggling during his singles match against Lukas Klein on Saturday. With an opponent ranked well outside the world’s top 100, the Greek was expected to breeze through without a hitch.

It certainly didn’t pan out that way. Although Tsitsipas did come away with the win after Klein retired in the third and final set, the Slovakian was only three points away from clinching a major upset during a tiebreak in the second.

Then came a troubled Sunday, with action unfolding at the iconic Panathenaic Stadium, which hosted the Athens Olympics in 1896.

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Playing doubles alongside his brother Petros, Tsitsipas lost a three-set battle with Klein and Igor Zelenay. The 25-year-old had barely any time to recover before he was back out on court for a singles clash with Alex Molcan.

Although Tsitsipas put up a decent fight, Molcan sealed a 3-1 victory for Slovakia over Greece by beating his favoured opponent 7-6 4-6 6-3. The result means that Greece will not be able to progress from World Group 1 and compete in the Davis Cup Finals next year.

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Tsitsipas admitted that things were ‘complicated’ after his win over Klein on Saturday, although he went out of his way to praise those in attendance at the historic venue. “I felt the people involved in the match,” he said. “I had several failed attempts to close with a break. The crowd’s energy blew me away.”

Even before the latest dose of Davis Cup action, Tsitsipas had been on an underwhelming run of form, which saw him crash out of the US Open in the second round last month.

On his main draw debut, qualifier Dominic Stricker sent Tsitsipas packing at Flushing Meadows. The Greek was also denied a deep run at Wimbledon earlier this summer, with Christopher Eubanks prevailing in their fourth-round contest.

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