An impressive debut and a spot in the second round of the Cincinnati Open for Stefanos Tsitsipas!
On Friday evening (August 14), the 28-year-old tennis player delivered a very strong and convincing performance on the courts in Ohio, United States, defeating Valentin Royer 2-0 in sets (7-6, 7-5) over Valentin Rognier after an hour and 58 minutes of play.
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The first set was fairly even, with Stefanos breaking the Frenchman’s (No. 78) to take a 3-2 lead, only to lose that advantage when he dropped his very next service game. With the two players going head-to-head, the set went to a tiebreak, where the world No. 49 dominated completely and took the set 7-4 to go up 1-0.
The match continued in the most impressive fashion in the second set for Stefanos, who, with exceptionally powerful shots down the lines, as well as some spectacular points near the net, he completely controlled the pace of the match and took a 5-2 lead over Royer, having broken his opponent’s serve!
With his back against the wall, the 25-year-old Frenchman put Stefanos under intense pressure and ultimately broke back to make it 5-4, before tying the score at 5-5 shortly afterward. With the match hanging by a thread, Stefanos held his service game with relative ease to take a 6-5 lead, capitalizing shortly after his fifth match point to seal the set 7-5 and take a 2-0 lead in sets!
Now, the 28-year-old tennis player is preparing for the big showdown against the No. 2 seed, Félix Auger-Aliassime, where he will vie for a spot in the round of 32 at the ATP Masters 1000.
