Stefanos Tsitsipas came back strongly from a rain delay, reversing a one-set deficit and fending off a match point in a 4-6, 7-6, 6-2 win over Malek Jaziri in Hertogenbosch on Thursday.
The first set had just been completed when rain delayed play for nearly three hours.
The 19-year-old from Greece did not start the second set strongly, losing his second service game to give the veteran Tunisian a set and break lead. Jaziri fired a pair of passing shots, one down each line, evading a diving Tsitsipas on the second to secure his advantage.
Jaziri fell apart three games later, however, plopping forehands long and volleys into the net in handing Tsitsipas a break at love. The Tunisian came unglued again in the tiebreak, squandering a 5-2 lead and match point on his serve before Tsitsipas forced a decider.
The No. 5 seed rolled from there, breaking in the opening game and adding a second break for good measure. That marked a sharp turnaround from the first set, when Tsitsipas won just three points on his second serve — Jaziri took more than half of his — and the veteran converted the only break point on either side.
“It was not easy in the beginning. It took me longer to adjust to the grass. It’s not easy this adjustment from clay to grass,” Tsitsipas said. “After the frist set, I just managed to pull out my best tennis.”
The win sets up a quarterfinal, his first at tour level on grass, with second seed Richard Gasquet. The Frenchman quickly dispatched Evgeny Donskoy, 6-2, 6-2, before the rain arrived. Gasquet won an astonishing 24 of 25 first serve points, while the Russian earned fewer than two-thirds of his and barely half of total serve points. The 31-year-old tallied a whopping 16 break points and faced none.
Another seeded Frenchman, No. 1 Adrian Mannarino, however, crashed out of the Netherlands without winning a set. He managed barely an hour on court, split by the delay, in a 6-4, 6-4 loss to countryman Jeremy Chardy.
Mannarino watched 10 aces fly past him while winning just nine total points on Chardy’s serve. The victor made just 67 percent of first serves, but it mattered little with a strong 63 percent win rate on second serve points. Mannarino’s putrid return effort saw him never win multiple points in a single Chardy service game.
The 31-year-old is in fine grass court form, backing up his challenger win in Surbiton last week with a quarterfinal in the Netherlands. He has already won as many main draw grass matches as he did all of last year.
He gets a favorable quarterfinal in a top half with no seeds remaining; American wild card Mackenzie McDonald defeated Australian qualifier Alex Bolt in straight sets.
