He threw his racket. In a mixture of rage and relief. Stefanos Tsitsipas forced to erase a handicap of 2 sets in the 1st round against the Italian Lorenzo Musetti once again had to work to overcome 6-3, 7-6 (10/8), 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (9/7) in 4h 6′ from the resistance of the Czech Zdenek Kolar, from the qualifications who had eliminated Lucas Pouille in the 1st round. In the 3rd round, the Greek, finalist in 2021, has an appointment with the Swede Mikael Ymer (95th in the world) who eliminated Daniel Evans (seeded n ° 29).
Zdenek Kolar (25 years old; 134th in the world) had a match full of determination (57 winning points; 2 break points converted out of 8; 29 points out of 37 scored at the net). A committed performance hailed by his rival: “I knew him a little from the Challengers that we played a long time ago. It’s never easy against players who don’t play on the ATP Tour. You never know what to expect. They play more freely, have nothing to lose. The state of mind is different, it can be brutal, it can give good tennis. He ran fast, reacted quickly, he is a very complete player, not easy to play, always finding the right solutions. I knew it would be a difficult day, ”slipped Stefanos Tsitsipas at a press conference.
Taken by the throat, Tsitsipas had to struggle with two adversaries, the one facing him and the one who was boiling inside. He says he doesn’t know which was more cumbersome: “A bit of both. I was present, I had a lot of opportunities, break points (3 out of 12 converted), I played well, I stayed in the game, he had great ideas, he faced all situations without overplaying. The more the match progressed, the more I saw his intelligence. Last year, I wasn’t focusing on what was happening in front of you, sometimes it’s good to focus on yourself. But if you don’t feel well, you have to look the other way. In two rounds, Stefanos Tsitsipas went through many emotions. In the 3rd round, he has an appointment with the Swede Mikael Ymer (95th in the world).
