PAP / EPA / Sergio Gomez / Pictured: Stefanos Tsitsipas
Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Dominik Thiem after a decisive tie-break and qualified for the third round of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament played on clay in Madrid. American seeds Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe won the set without dropping a set.
The match of the second round of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid between two former finalists of this event, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Dominic Thiem, promised to be interesting. And the tennis players did not disappoint, putting on a great show. Finally, after two hours and 19 minutes of fierce competition, the fourth-seeded Greek defeated the Austrian wild card holder 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(5).
Tsitsipas was on impressive duty on Saturday. He was only broken once, scoring 58 of 72 on his serve, and at one point had his 39th consecutive first serve shot.
“It was a fantastic series which shows how I improved my serve. I think it was because I was relaxed and focused,” said the 24-year-old from Athens, who will face Sebastian Baez in the third tour, quoted by atptour.com The Argentinian, tournament “25”, beat Marcos Girona.
Taylor Fritz also served well on Saturday, not once broken, scoring 55 of 72 plays on his own serve and beating Christopher O’Connell 7-6 (11), 6-4. The next rival of the American number eight will be Cristian Garin. The Chilean in three games turned out to be better than the “27” tournament, Miomir Kecmanovic.
Frances Tiafoe repeated the success of the event final in Houston and won again with Tomas Martin Etcheverry. The American’s next opponent at number nine will be Pedro Cachin. The Argentine knocked out his compatriot, appearing with the 24th number next to Francisco Cerundolo’s name.
Seeded 11th, Cameron Norrie converted two of six break points to win 6-4, 7-6(5) against qualifier Yosuke Watanuki of Japan. In the third round, the British will face another Asian tennis player, Zhizhen Zhang. The Chinese, after a decisive tie-break, beat Denis Shapovalov, in the “21” tournament.
Mutua Madrid Open, Madrid (Spain)
ATP Masters 1000, clay, €7.705 million prize pool
Saturday April 29
2nd singles round:
Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece, 4) v Dominic Thiem (Austria, WC) 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(5)
Taylor Fritz (US, 8) – Christopher O’Connell (Australia) 7:6(11), 6:4
Frances Tiafoe (USA, 9) – Tomas Martin Etcheverry (Argentina) 6-3, 7-6(5)
Cameron Norrie (UK, 11) – Yosuke Watanuki (Japan, Q) 6-4, 7-6(5)
Sebastian Baez (Argentina, 25) v Marcos Giron (USA) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
Zhizhen Zhang (China) – Denis Shapovalov (Canada, 21) 6:7(4), 6:4, 7:6(1)
Pedro Cachin (Argentina) v Francisco Cerundolo (Argentina, 24) 6-1, 7-6(6)
Cristian Garin (Chile) v Miomir Kecmanovic (Serbia, 27) 7-6(3), 6-7(5), 6-4
Men’s tournament schedule and results
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