In September 2023, in Athens, Slovakia beat Greece 3-1. The decisive point came in the fourth match: Alex Molčan beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6, 4-6, 6-3.
Three years on, the two teams meet again in Košice, on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 September. Tsitsipas told the Slovak Tennis Federation that Greece, at least, sees a rematch here: “For the Slovaks it isn’t a rematch, but for us it clearly is. This time we want to turn the result around. What happened in Athens wasn’t easy to swallow. We came here with the goal of qualifying.”
Céline, the C30.4 (a club-level ranking), read the bit about “not easy to swallow” and nodded for an abnormally long time.
A 7-6 4-6 6-3, meaning three sets where you hold your zone two times out of three. That third set, technically, I play it better. With less pace, granted. But the intentions are there. Two practice sessions away, mind you.
What struck her most was the gap. Three years between the loss and the rematch is exactly the rhythm at which she revisits the end of her own matches, cone of chips at the clubhouse bar included.
What reassures me is that a former world number 3 carries a defeat around for three years. Me, I get told I make too much of it. No: I write it down in my folder, and I wait for the date of the return match.
Tsitsipas also said he plays the Davis Cup neither for money nor for material things: “I feel a bit like a volunteer here.” His stated goal remains to see Greece one day in the world group, among the 16 best teams in the world.
Greece line up with Stefanos Tsitsipas, Stefanos Sakellaridis, Ioannis Xilas, Aristotelis Thanos and Petros Tsitsipas, captained by Apostolos Tsitsipas. On the Slovak side, Molčan is joined by Norbert Gombos, Andrej Martin, Miloš Karol and Lukáš Pokorný.
It’s true, we checked: Tennis Actu.
