Wimbledon 2019: Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev fall in first round

Stefanos Tsitsipas laments the inconsistency of his generation after becoming an early Wimbledon casualty.

Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas goes down as he returns during his Wimbledon first round loss to Italy’s Thomas Fabbiano. Picture: AFP

Australian Open sensation Stefanos Tsitsipas has lamented the inconsistency of his generation after becoming an early Wimbledon casualty.

A semi-finalist at the Australian Open, the Greek joined fellow headliner Alexander Zverev as a surprise first round exit.

On a day world No.1 Novak Djokovic began his Wimbledon defence in style, the two youngsters considered threats to the legendary trio featuring the Serbian, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal disappointed.

But Australian teenager Alexei Popyrin and Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, widely tipped as a future number one, did their part for the youth on tour with impressive wins.

Tsitsipas, who was beaten by Thomas Fabianno 6-4 3-6 6-4 6-7 (8) 6-3, was at a loss to explain why he and other young talent were unable to produce quality tennis on a consistent basis.

“We’ve seen players my age, many years ago, I would like to name Rafa, Roger, seemed very mature and professional what they were doing,” he said.

“They had consistency from a young age. They always did well tournament by tournament without major drops or inconsistency.

“(It is) something that we, as the Next Gen players, lack — including myself as well, this consistency week-by-week. It’s a week-by-week problem basically, that we cannot adjust to that.

“My goal this year was to stay as consistent as possible. I had a great year last year. There were a lot of ups and downs during the year. I really wanted to focus and be aware of every single match that I’m going to play this year.

“It hasn’t been going up to the plan. I’ll be doing what I’m doing, and let’s see what happens.”

Alexander Zverev reacts after losing a point. Picture: AP

Zverev appeared poised to make a grand slam breakthrough after thrashing Djokovic to win the ATP Tour Finals in London last November.

But his best effort at major level this year came when a quarter-finalist at Roland Garros, with the sixth seed out of sorts when beaten 4-6 6-3 6-2 7-5 by Jiri Vesely.

The German has been dealing with managerial issues off the court and it has had an impact on him.

“It’s just what happens with me. Physically I’m fine. I can play ten sets, no problem. I don’t really get tired,” he said.

“I get down on myself a lot. It’s different things I think right now. Life is also one thing. Everything that happens outside the court affects you.

“In the last two days, I would say are very rough for me personally. I’m not going to get into details, but I’m just saying. I have to fix that to play well on the court.

Auger-Aliassime has surged into the top 20 despite never winning a grand slam match until his 5-7 6-2 6-4 6-3 win over fellow Canadian Vasek Pospisil on Monday.

“Obviously it’s great,” he said.

“It’s a relief just for any player to get his first Grand Slam win … and it’s a good achievement for me.

“At the same time, with the level I’m playing now and my ambitions, I look forward and I look to go even further than that.”

Bright future … Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime. Picture: AFP

Such is the quality of the Canadian, bookmakers in the United Kingdom has installed him on the sixth line of betting to win the tournament.

The athletic right-gander expressed surprise at this.

“I think that was a bit exaggerated, from my opinion. Sometimes I can understand the excitement,” he said.

“I think people, it would be a nice story, like, to write about or it would be a cool story. At the same time, that’s never something I thought of.

“I think the first thing was just to get my first win. And then obviously I’m not saying I’m here to lose, but if I can go all the way, I’ll go all the way. But it’s a bit exaggerated to put me as maybe a fifth or sixth favourite to win the title. I think that’s a bit crazy.”

The old masters in Djokovic, a 6-3 7-5 6-3 victor over Philipp Kohlschreiber, and Wawrinka, who thrashed qualifier Ruben Bemelmans 6-3 6-2 6-2, progressed with few concerns.

Djokovic has added 2001 Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic to his team and said the Croatian had already provided some good tips.

“We’ve known each other for a long time. It didn’t take too much time for us to really feel comfortable one next to another,” he said.

“It’s nice to have him on my side of the net this time. He’s a great guy. He’s someone that obviously he’s a Grand Slam champion, top player for many years. I looked up to him because everyone from the region was supporting him when he was playing. Yeah, he was kind of a hero of mine.”