SHANGHAI — Stefanos Tsitsipas believes he is turning a corner after claiming a statement 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory over 11th seed Taylor Fritz in the third round of the Shanghai Masters, a result that has lifted the Greek four places to No 39 in the Live ATP Rankings.
The former world No 3, now 28, described the comeback win as a significant marker against an opponent he rates among the most consistent performers on the ATP Tour. “It is a statement. It’s a great win, against a player who has earned his stripes on the highest level of the ATP Tour for many years now,” Tsitsipas said. “He’s been there consistently playing the finals, and playing the biggest, going deep in the Masters 1000s and Grand Slam tournaments. So, for me it is an important win that I was able to capture that.”
Tsitsipas added that fine margins on serve decided the contest: “I knew there was a lot of difficulties that were presented to me, especially given the serve. It’s easy to lose your focus for a split second, and suddenly you are not in control of your serve, you are a break down. That was the thing with Taylor. Like, we both had to be careful with our serves. And, you know, there might be a window, one or two points, where you can might be able to do something, and it happened towards the very end. I’m extremely happy that I was able to really insert myself mentally into those few points and break the serve in that moment.”
The two-time Grand Slam finalist has endured a difficult 18 months. Ranked No 8 in March 2025, he slipped out of the top 30 by the end of last year amid poor form and injury setbacks, then slumped to No 88 in June this year after an early exit at the French Open. A title at the Swiss Open in July steadied his season, and a decent run at last week’s Japan Open returned him to the top 50 before his run in Shanghai.
That resurgence has been built on a more reliable backhand and greater variation, Tsitsipas said. “It feels good, yes. I do feel confident hitting my backhands, hitting my forehands. I also like try and add variation to my game. It’s not all about strength and how hard you hit,” he stated. “I feel like it’s important to mix up play and try to use a variation of play opening up the court, you know, using a little bit of top spin, a little bit of flat. I just want to make it as annoying as possible.” The win over Fritz was his third top-20 victory since the start of August.