Stefanos Tsitsipas strained every sinew – both physically and mentally – in his three-set victory over Jan-Lennard Struff in Rome. Tsitsipas smashed his racquet in a visible sign of distress at the start of the match, but recovered to seal his place in round three. The Greek separated from fellow tennis star Paula Badosa earlier this week after almost a year together.
Stefanos Tsitsipas recovered from an early moment of frustration to claim a hard-fought 6-7(1) 6-4 6-4 win over Jan-Lennard Struff.
The sixth seed battled past the German in a gruelling two hours and 31 minutes to set up a third-round clash with British No. 1 Cameron Norrie.
Struff broke the world No. 8 in a keenly contested opening game after the latter hit a backhand return long, which prompted the Greek to smash his racquet into an advertising placard.
Tsitsipas did not directly reference the incident in his post-match interview, but admitted he was dealing with “a lot of emotions” in what was clearly an exhausting contest.
“I can’t really process what happened,” he said. “There was a lot of attention, a lot of emotions, a lot of fighting; it was insane.
“I really don’t know what worked and what didn’t, I just tried to win the match and the outcome was beyond spectacular.
“I managed to come back and get over those really difficult moments.”
The two-time Grand Slam finalist explained how he felt “lost out there.”
“I really don’t know what I was doing out on the court until the middle of the second set,” he added.
“I felt really lost out there and I don’t think I’ve felt this way in a long time.
“It was really difficult dealing with emotions like this and I don’t think I’ve had a match in my life that had so many negative emotions that overtook me; it was a very tricky and weird situation.
“I’ve got to improve my mindset entering matches.
“Today was not a good way to show my mindset at the beginning of the match. I was not zoned in, not concentrating.
“I need to start matches a bit stronger, find my rhythm. I know I’m good on this surface, so I hope that I can improve and come into the next match feeling stronger.”
Tsitsipas was out of sorts in the opener, and would lose the first set after a comprehensive 7-1 reverse in the tie-break.
He recovered to edge a pulsating second set which lasted one hour and one minute to restore parity, and which included three consecutive games that went against serve to give the Greek a 3-2 lead.
Struff was proving to be a tough nut to crack, typified when three Tsitsipas break points fell by the wayside to allow the German to reduce the deficit to 4-3.
A first set point slipped away for Tsitsipas, before taking the contest into a decider with a convincing hold to love in the 10th game.
The third set was equally turbulent, with a break of serve for both players in the opening two games.
Four more break-point opportunities then came and went for Tsitsipas to allow Struff to take a gruelling hold at 2-1, before momentum finally swung in the 25-year-old’s favour.
He claimed another break of serve to take a 3-2 lead and after withstanding three break points for the German, extended his lead at 4-2.
It was relatively plain sailing for Tsitsipas from that point, with a showdown against Norrie to come.
Holger Rune sealed his place in the third round after powering to a 6-4 6-4 victory over Luca Nardi.
The Dane won after one hour and 43 minutes of play and will now go head-to-head with Argentine Sebastian Baez on Sunday.
The Italian acquitted himself well in the opener, but lost the opening set after being broken in the third game to go 2-1 down.
Rune would go onto to take the first set in the tenth game with a hold to love.
The 21-year-old was certainly made to sweat by the home favourite in the second set, and fought off six break points to take a crucial hold at 2-2.
Rune would then follow that up with a break himself to 3-2 in front before securing emerging victorious after a second match point at 6-4.
Andrey Rublev progressed to round three with a gripping 5-7 6-4 7-5 win over Marcos Giron after two hours and 25 minutes of play.
Neither player gave much away in a largely tetchy opening set that yielded just one break point opportunity for both players across the opening eight games.
It was Rublev’s resistance that broke first, as three consecutive games went against serve to leave Giron with a 6-5 lead.
The American would take the opener after his first set point with a hold to 30.
This year’s Madrid Open fought back brilliantly to take a 3-0 lead at the start of the second set, and broke the American twice to seal an otherwise tight second set, 6-4.
Rublev looked like he may pull away from Giron at the start of the third set by taking a 2-0 lead, but the American pulled him back in with an immediate break back.
He would reel the German in once again by penetrating through his serve after a fourth break point in the ninth game to leave the world No.49 serving for the match.
However, Giron squandered that chance after being broken to love and Rublev prevailed on the American’s service game in his third match point.
Rublev will now face Frenchman Alexandre Muller in the third round.
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