Stefanos Tsitsipas showcased his pace and counter attack in the 7-6(4), 7-5 victory against Egor Gerasimov at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament on Tuesday.
"I had to play more consistently and also what I increased in the [key] moments was the speed of my ball, which felt kind of floppy before. He had a solid game, he was serving well at times. He wasn’t missing a lot, so it was difficult,” Tsitsipas said in his post match interview.
“I think once I put in my head that I needed to fight and I [couldn’t] take [any] single moment for granted, things changed and I felt the confidence.”
Standing strong 💪@steftsitsipas gets through a tough test against Gerasimov 7-6(4) 7-5 to set a date with Hurkacz in Rotterdam#abnamrowtt pic.twitter.com/o3jy8S0UHA
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 2, 2021
This is the World No. 6's first tournament since reaching the semifinals of the Australian Open, where he was knocked out by Russian Daniil Medvedev.
But we can't forget to mention the incredible match Greece's tennis star played against World No. 2 Rafael Nadal. He become the second man to defeat Nadal from two sets down at a Grand Slam.
Tsitsipas will play Polish Hubert Hurkacz in the second round.
The Greek star is also in the doubles in Rotterdam, partnering his brother Petros.
"It's been a dream of mine. It's only happened a few times in 250 events and I want to take this opportunity and play with him. We made our Grand Slam debut a month ago at the Australian Open, which is the best memory of my life," he said.
"I'm obviously focusing on my singles career, but I also want to help my brother and make something good out of our doubles performances. I would only do it for my brother. I'm not planning on playing with anyone else."
