Stefanos Tsitsipas makes early US Open statement a year after agonizing exit

Stefanos Tsitsipas threw his racket in the air, walking to the net with the sort of smile he was uncertain would ever surface again. Just one year ago, the two-time Grand Slam finalist left Flushing Meadows in fear, unable to walk for two days due to a back injury that made him question whether his career could continue.Tsitsipas, 28, spent months in physical agony, as the once-perennial top 10 player watched his ranking plummet, wondering why he continued to push himself through so much pain. “It was tough,” Tsitsipas said, choking back tears after his U.S.Open first-round match Monday.

“It was something that I never really experienced before … I remember saying to my team, ‘I don’t know for how long that’s going to continue.’“I stayed strong.I kept believing.

I knew deep inside that I will have a moment again.”Tsitsipas, who debuted at the U.S.Open in 2018, walked into Louis Armstrong Stadium as an unseeded player in New York for the first time in his career, having fallen to his lowest ranking (No.

88) in more than eight years this summer.Despite falling down a set and a break against No.10 Arthur Fils — who had just won the Cincinnati Open — Tsitsipas walked out with a 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-1, 6-4 upset, defeating the Frenchman for the first time in six matches.“I am speechless,” Tsitsipas said after the win.

“It’s very easy to not feel confident, especially when you haven’t beaten top players in a long time.That’s why I’m very ecstatic about today.

It’s one of those moments that you are able to look back and be, like, I’ve still got the game that I’m looking for.”Injuries and internal battles were only partly responsible for Tsitsipas’ slide.After an early exit at Wimbledon — the ninth straight Grand Slam in which he failed to advance past the second round — Tsitsipas fired his father, Apostolos, as his longtime coach, following years of public conflict.Now, the former world No.3 is working with Thomas Perri...