João Sousa: “The defeats here in Portugal touch me more because my expectations are high” – Sports
João Sousa fell in the first round of the Millennium Estoril Open against Sebastian Baez, 59th in the ATP hierarchy, and did not hide his disappointment after feeling the ground and the game slipping between his feet.
“I didn’t even play well and he played a good game. I don’t have much to say,” he began by stating, dryly, at the press conference.
“I think he didn’t find the recognition of the table, which, several times, let out of the mufflers managed to enter the bench, with his back to the cabin, of attempts to the cabin, of attempts to the cabin, of attempts to recognize the family I found that was eluding him.
“Although the first one felt really good, with my aggressive style, but from the 1-1 (set) and the 40-40 that activates, I missed the game an easy right and lost all the orientation of the encounter of the encounter that I expected have”, “I lost nine games in a row, which is not normal for a tennis player, let alone at this level. His merit”, the Guimarães native, n.º 1 Portuguese and 83.º in the ATP ranking.
Lost the match (6-1 and 6-3) in 65 minutes. “A defeat is a defeat. The defeats here in Portugal touch me more because my expectations are high. I know there is a lot of hope placed on me and my performances. Not being able to live up to that expectation, whether it’s mine or someone else’s, is reason to be sad,” she shot her.
Champion in 2018, he did not hide the sadness of the early elimination. “Honestly, I think this year was the year I arrived in better condition, more than in 2018, playing very well, and eating very well. It’s more difficult to accept that I can’t put that into the meeting”, he underlined. “I could never feel the ball,” he said.
João Sousa leaves, in the singular variant, with “a great disappointment”, but he recognizes this is part of the life of those who step into the courts. “We are used to losing. It makes a player part of the game”, from a gamer of life.
In the X-ray of the meeting with Baez, João Sousa stressed that he lacked “intensity”, aggressiveness and “being faithful to what I have been putting into practice in practice”, he characterized. “I am very disappointed in myself,” quickly.
Finally, a word to the audience, a supplement that helps them try to win. “I gave everything I had, the public was very good at trying, for me. When there are few points it is difficult, but for me there is nothing more to say”, he concluded.