Stefanos Tsitsipas shook off last year's final ghost with a clinical 5-7, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 victory over Zizou Bergs.
Stefanos Tsitsipas got off to a rocky start at the 2024 Australian Open, but he eventually impressed with his performance against Zizou Bergs.
After playing in the of the Australian Open last year, the Greek player has a difficult task in 2024, as he's defending his finalist points from last year, so if he loses in one of the early rounds, Tsitsipas can even exit the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings.
And he was certainly close to that in the first set of his opening match. Bergs came out firing, hitting 22 winners in the opening set, and it was clear that he could trouble his opponent.
Eventually, the Belgian used his only break point, while saving three chances of his opponent, to win the opening set 7-5 and enter their first-round match on the winning side of the scoreboard.
However, as the match went on, Tsitsipas improved with every rally. The reason behind his early struggles may be the fact that his initial first-round opponent, Matteo Berrettini, withdrew from the tournament, so the seventh seed had to change his preparations at the last minute.
In the second set, Tsitsipas played much better tennis, but he still faced some break points, and his serving was far from perfect. Despite that, he won the set 6-1 to level the score of the match.
The score was the same also in the third set, as the Greek player won it 6-1, but this time around, he was much more dominant on his serve, losing only two points on it, taking the lead of the match, 2-1.
Tsitsipas continued with his dominant performance also in the third set, winning the match 5-7, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 to reach the second round of the 2024 Australian Open, awaiting the winner of an all-Australian clash between Jordan Thompson and Aleksandar Vukic
"It felt great to be at that level of tennis," Tsitsipas said. "I was very focused, especially after losing the first set. I knew that this is my time to change things up and move on with better tennis, with better power and movement on the court and I think I outplayed him as well physically. I was stronger physically today, at least that's the way I felt. I think winning the first match today was all due to physicality and being constantly mentally involved during the match."
