Stefanos Tsitsipas reflects on tough first round win in Rotterdam

Greek tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas admitted that it wasn’t straightforward taking part in world No. 76 Egor Gerasimov within the Rotterdam first spherical. Tsitsipas, ranked at No. 6 on the planet, claimed a straight-set win over Gerasimov however he needed to battle laborious for it as ultimately he gained 7-6 (4) 7-5.

Tsitsipas blew an early first-set break however win three consecutive factors from 4-4 within the tie-break to win the opener. Within the second set, Gerasimov as soon as once more misplaced his serve early however as soon as once more broke again. Sadly for Gerasimov, he misplaced his serve once more within the twelfth recreation od the second set as Tsitsipas wrapped up a straight-set win.

“I needed to play extra persistently and likewise what I elevated within the [key] moments was the velocity of my ball, which felt type of floppy earlier than. He had a strong recreation, he was serving effectively at occasions. He wasn’t lacking quite a bit, so it was tough,” Tsitsipas mentioned, per the ATP web site.

“I believe as soon as I put in my head that I wanted to battle and I [couldn’t] take [any] single second as a right, issues modified and I felt the boldness.”

Tsitsipas performs subsequent Hubert Hurkacz

Tsitsipas might be combating towards rising Polish star Hurkacz for a spot within the Rotterdam quarterfinal.

Tsitsipas and Hurkacz are not any strangers to one another because the Greek leads their head-to-head report 5-1. “We have performed quite a bit prior to now. He is a terrific opponent, he is been giving me a tough time. It is a problem going into that match,” Tsitsipas mentioned.

“He can serve effectively, he has a terrific backhand that he can play each cross and down the road, so I believe that is considered one of his largest weapons. His forehand, I’d say he would not make plenty of errors from that facet. However general he is a really strong, very constant participant.”