Australian Open 2025 results: Stefanos Tsitsipas ‘hit by karma’ in first-round loss
Stefanos Tsitsipas believes his Australian Open first-round exit was “karma” as he quit playing doubles with his brother to focus on singles.
The 2023 Melbourne runner-up Greek lost to American Alex Michelson 7-5 6-3 2-6 6-4 on day two.
The No. 11 seed was scheduled to play doubles with his brother Petros, but withdrew before the tournament began to protect his singles chances.
“It’s ironic. My whole (idea) was to try and go deep. I knew the first thing I had to think about was not playing doubles,” Tsitsipas, 26, said.
“The whole purpose is just to save some energy and hopefully stay alive for the deeper draws of the game.”
“I guess karma hit me. I wasn’t able to play or function the way I wanted to in this year’s game.
Tsitsipas has long been tipped as a future Grand Slam champion, having reached the Melbourne Open two years ago and the French Open final in 2021, losing both times to Novak Djokovic strange.
However, he lost in the first round of last year’s US Open and the second round of Wimbledon.
“The most frustrating part of losing in the first round of a Grand Slam is that you have so much time to recover,” Tsitsipas added.
“It’s too bad that I have to be here for a long time before the next game.”
Jannik Sinner will begin his title defense at Melbourne Park later on Monday, with Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios also set to take part.
