The Greek, finalist of the 2021 edition, saw a very hooked start to the tournament. Winner of the Czech Kolar, he will meet the Swede Mikael Ymer at 3e tour.
He threw his racket. In a mixture of rage and relief. Stefanos Tsitsipas forced to erase a handicap of 2 sets to 1is round against the Italian Lorenzo Musetti once again had to work hard to overcome 6-3, 7-6 (10/8), 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (9/7 ) in 4 h 6 ‘ from the resistance of the Czech Zdenek Kolar, from the qualifications who had eliminated Lucas Pouille at 1is round. At 3e round, the Greek, finalist in 2021, has an appointment with the Swede Mikael Ymer (95e world) which eliminated Daniel Evans (seeded n°29).
Zdenek Kolar (25 years; 134e world) had a match full of determination (57 winning points; 2 break points converted out of 8; 29 points out of 37 scored at the net). A committed performance hailed by his rival: “ I knew him a bit from the Challengers that we played a long time ago. It’s never easy against players who don’t play on the ATP Tour. You never know what to expect. They play more freely, have nothing to lose. The state of mind is different, it can be brutal, it can give good tennis. He ran fast, reacted quickly, he is a very complete player, not easy to play, always finding the right solutions. I knew it would be a hard day “, slipped Stefanos Tsitsipas in a press conference.
Taken by the throat, Tsitsipas had to struggle with two adversaries, the one facing him and the one who was boiling inside. He confides that he does not know which was the most cumbersome: “ A bit of both. I was present, I had a lot of opportunities, break points (3 out of 12 converted), I played well, I stayed in the game, he had great ideas, he faced all situations without overplaying. The more the match progressed, the more I saw his intelligence. Last year, I wasn’t focusing on what was happening in front of you, sometimes it’s good to focus on yourself. But if you don’t feel well, you have to look the other way. In two laps, Stefanos Tsitsipas went through many emotions. At 3e turn, he has an appointment with the Swede Mikael Ymer (95e world).