Stefanos Tsitsipas reduced to tears in sad scenes at French Open

A tearful Stefanos Tsitsipas says he has little option but to simply get better after his shock ousting at the French Open.

The fourth seed was bundled out of Roland Garros in four sets by Danish rising star Holger Rune in the fourth round 5-7 6-3 3-6 4-6, just a year after making the final.

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It was a bitter blow for the Greek world No.4, with a drop in the rankings likely to be on the horizon as a result.

Emotions were clearly running high for the 23-year-old after the match.

Tsitsipas said he had simply not adapted quickly enough to the pressure Rune had been able to place on him, and failed to place the Dane under any pressure himself.

Admitting he was feeling frustrated on court amid the stiff opposition from Rune, Tsitsipas said he had been unable to overcome the mental hurdles required for victory.

"I was struggling a lot the last couple of days in terms of finding my rhythm," he said.

"I was very nervous on the court, being frustrated a lot, and I knew I was this way, but I couldn't stop being like this.

"Of course, I knew I'm going to have to play difficult opponents that know how to play on this surface, but mentally, physically, tennis-wise, I felt good.

"It's just that I had a few troubles in practice. Again, back to frustration, back to not understanding certain things and certain patterns that I was trying to impose.

"You know, you do have this in the back of your head, having kind of changed a little bit of that equipment, playing with something that has helped you a lot last year get to a pretty good result, finals for the first time, it kind of stays back in your head that maybe I shouldn't have done that.

"But no blame there, I think it actually helps me and I just hope it serves its purpose and the way I want it to be in the next couple of weeks because I want to get as many points as possible."

Tsitsipas ousted from French Open in fourth round boilover

Tsitsipas found himself on the back foot early, giving away the first set, but he rallied well in the second and looked to have wrested control of the match.

But Rune fought back with a high energy display in the remaining two sets to run over Tsitsipas and set up a quarter-final clash against Norway's Casper Ruud.

The world No.40 outplayed his rank, and Tsitsipas said he was frustrated with himself for not adapting to Rune's tactics early enough.

"It's kind of strange, I don't get to face that very often from someone," Tsitsipas said.

"But then suddenly [he] seems to be playing amazing, which is a good thing, of course.

"He is a very emotional player, he can play great, he absolutely deserves this victory, played better, faced crucial tough moments better.

"But I can see something different next time with this opponent. I'm pretty convinced I can do way better.

"This is not where I've maxed out, let's say. I didn't give myself the opportunity to max out. It's not that he didn't give me... I didn't give myself the opportunity to go all the way, and that is a shame."

Tsitsipas was still chastising himself even in the post-game press conference for not being quicker to adjust.

“I wasn't really applying a lot of pressure, it was ridiculous at a point, and again I was stubborn, I was stubborn to change it, I didn't want to change because it has helped me before, it has brought good results," he said.

"But again, like I need to adjust way quicker, it's too late for this stuff."

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