Stefanos Tsitsipas on the harsh consequences of his big rankings drop

Stefanos Tsitsipas has been a regular in the top 10 of the ATP rankings in recent years and he has admitted his slide out of the game’s elite list presents some fresh challenges.

Tsitsipas has been used to avoid big-name opponents in the early rounds of tournaments, but he was forced to take on Frances Tiafoe in the third round of the Indian Wells Masters on Sunday.

Former top ten player Tiafoe has also dipped down the rankings in recent months, so this felt like a premature meeting between two of the biggest names in the game as their falling ranking ensured their seeding had fallen for the ATP 1000 tournament in California.

It was Tsitsipas who ran out as a comfortable 6-3 6-3 winner, with the Greek star closing in a quick return to the top ten as he aims to reach the latter stages at Indian Wells.

“It’s part of the whole experience being outside of the top 10,” said Tsitsipas. “That is what you subscribe to, not being within those high-ranked guys.

“That’s what comes with it. Of course, I’m prepared for it, for any circumstance, and any new opening or anything different that might occur in my career, I just try and face it as good as I can and deal with it daily.

“We have seen players that were in the top 10 and dropped out a little bit. Some of them much further. It can be tricky for those that are high ranked because some of the players do have that big tennis that they have, of course, once produced which kept them in the top 5 and they had big results.

“It may be something they work out at the time and kind of push them back in the rankings.

READ MORE: Roger Federer reveals his ‘big favourite’ for Indian Wells Open as ‘hard-court specialist’ gets snubbed

“So there could be tricky matches, because I’ve had those actually in the past against players that do not deserve to be outside the top 20 or 30 and are way better than that in terms of tennis and experience.

“These can be tricky matches, and I feel like being some sort of contender for that title, let’s say, it does perhaps add a bit more pressure to the other guys because I have proved myself over the last few years that I can be there.t,

“It’s just that it hasn’t worked out recently, and I’m not in the best sort of tennis shape that I’ve been in terms of the last months.”

Tsitsipas’ exit from the top ten of the ATP rankings means there are no longer any players with a single-handed backhand in the game’s elite list, but he insisted he does not regret starting his tennis story using a shot that appears to be fading in significance in the modern game.

“It’s a complex shot to master and to perfect, and it takes a lot of time to get to a point where you develop an amazing single-handed backhand, one that is a weapon,” added Tsitsipas.

“Way more complaints, the double-handed backhand, I also think that people have the tendency to choose the double-handed backhand is obviously the ease of it, how less complex it is to learn and how you can always support your left hand to close out certain shots or save certain shots that perhaps a single-handed backhand would slice instead.

“So these are say some of the, let’s say, advantages of it. Otherwise I do feel like it’s the most beautiful shot in tennis.

“I do believe it’s the most difficult thing to learn in tennis, but of course it has its rewards as sort of creating opportunities, opening up the court. I think it’s a massive weapon for courts that have sort of a high response to the ball, especially clay courts, as well.

“So I do find it a beautiful shot that also, if perfected in the right way, it can be a massive lethal weapon for those who feel confident hitting that shot.”