Australian Open 2023: I had a better opponent on the other side of the net – Stefanos Tsitsipas after losing final against Novak Djokovic

Stefanos Tsitsipas admitted Novak Djokovic was better than him in the Australian Open final at the Rod Laver Arena on Sunday. The Greek player lost in straight sets against the Serbian, who won his 22nd Grand Slam title and his 10th Australian Open title.

Djokovic was able to dominate against Tsitsipas as he was at his absolute best. The Serbian went on to win by 6-3, 7-6, 7-6 to join Rafael Nadal as a 22-time Grand Slam champion.

Meanwhile, this was the second Slam final for Tsitsipas after he had lost the Roland Garros final against Novak Djokovic in 2021.

“I’m just happy that I’m in another Grand Slam final. Of course, I was dreaming about the trophy, lifting that trophy. I even dreamt it last night in my sleep. The desire is really there. I really, really want it badly,” said Tsitsipas.

“But just dreaming about it won’t make it happen. You got to act. You got to do something out there. You got to be present even more and do better.

“[It is] definitely much better playing finals than being stuck behind in the semi-finals. I’ll take that for sure. I just need to take that one more step where I can consistently lift trophies and win Slams and Masters 1000 events.”

Tsitsipas feels he needs to work hard to go the extra mile in his career and win his first Major as well as claim the number one position in the ATP Rankings.

“I want to max out in what I do in my profession. No. 1 is on my mind,” Tsitsipas said. “It doesn’t come easy, I know that. I got to work harder to make that happen. Today was my opportunity to be a World No. 1. I had a better opponent on the other side of the net who did things much better than me. He deserves that spot currently.

“I am born a champion. I can feel it in my blood. I can feel it as the competitive kid that I was when I was young. It’s something that is within me. I want to harvest that, make it bloom, make it even stronger and fonder, work hard towards those goals.

”It’s that beautiful number, the number ‘1’, that will make things extremely emotional when converting that.”

Tsitsipas was at his best in the Happy Slam and he would want to continue his good form for the rest of the season.