On an opening day full of surprises and marathons, it was business as usual for fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas as he took down Jeremy Chardy in straight sets to reach the second round at Roland Garros.
Tsitsipas saved four of the five break points he faced en route to a 7-6(6), 6-3, 6-1 win over Chardy on Sunday, his 17th clay-court victory.
The Greek played a powerful brand of tennis that allowed him to wear down Chardy whose play deteriorated as the match progressed. After breaking his spirit with a narrow tiebreak win the Greek continued to apply the pressure with Chardy wavering more and more. The final set was an utter display of authority from Tstisipas, who won it 6-1.
After the match, Tsitsipas said
“I stayed calm in the difficult moments that were presented in the tie-break and I dealt with them really well. Of course I think that tie-break played a crucial role in the next set and the psychology of the game, too.”