By Kingsley Elliot Kaye

A 4-4 head to head created expectations for a tight match between Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev. Stefanos led 2-0 on clay and had never conceded a set. The Greek came into the match as the favourite. Both matches however, the final in Monte Carlo and the quarter final of Roland Garros, were played in 2021, a year when the Greek was playing spectacular tennis, and was only halted by Djokovic, just one set away from the finishing line, in the final at Roland Garros. Notwithstanding his second triumph in Monte Carlo this year Stefanos is yet to find that magic.

Tsitsipas got off to an impressive start with 7 points in a row and earned 3 break points but failed to convert them. By attacking Rublev’s weakest point, his second serve, and resolving not to lose any backhand vs backhand wrestle, he eventually broke with his fifth break point.

Rublev appeared even more nervous than usual, throwing his racquet around and repeatedly bashing it on his leg out of frustration.

The next games went with serve, but the Greek, in spite of occasional errors, was constantly in control. He unsettled the Russian with continuous changes of pace and tactics, sometimes dragging him to the net with dropshots and mercilessly transfixing him with millimetric passing shots and lobs.

In the seventh game Rublev posed a slight threat when he reached 30 on his opponent’s serve for the first time. But Tsitsipas waved him off following up a serve with one of his flagship shots, a magnificent backhand down the line and maintained his lead.

Rublev proved his growing consistency with an excellent service game but at 5-3 Tsitsipas was impeccable and finished the set off with his fifth ace.

The first point of the second set saw Rublev charge forward on the first point, showing a different mindset to the match.

The first four games went with serve but momentum was shifting. Rublev was increasingly commanding the rallies whereas Tsitsipas was struggling to stave off aggression, his balls falling shorter. In the fourth game an ace and a wrongfooting however still did him the job, as well as a beautifully sliced backhand, which elicited an overcooked forehand from the Russian.

Rublev then held serve losing only one point and snatched the break in the sixth game after a tentative dropshot by Tsitsipas didn’t crawl over the net. With a 12-2 winning point series he dashed to a 5-2 lead.

Tsitsipas was unable to weather the storm and serving to stay in the set was overwhelmed by the power of Rublev’s groundstrokes, and lost the set 6-2, annihilated by a final backhand along the line.

A new set is often a new story and Tsitsipas from the very start appeared rejuvenated, once more battling away from the baseline and serving proficiently.

In the seventh game he found his best depth and aggression and for the first time in the set Rublev was cornered, facing break point. He saved it valiantly with a serve out wide which set up a flying crosscourt forehand and went on to hold.

Crisis was just deferred, for in the next two games Tsitsipas landed an 8 point winning streak, ripping Rublev’s service to love.

When serving for the match doubts came afloat and errors seeped in once more. Rublev grasped his chance and hit through to earn two break points. The plot seemed about to twist but Tsitsipas saved the first by putting away a sound volley, then two errors by Rublev chauffeured him to his first match point.

The Greek did not hesitate and with a kick service opened up the court for a crosscourt forehand in the corner which sealed victory.    

Zverev defeats Auger Aliassime and his own ghosts

The quarterfinal between Alezander Zverev and Roger Auger Aliassime, second and eighth seed of the ATP Mutua Open, presented manifold variables, which may confound the canniest fortune-teller. First of all, the absolute unpredictability associated with Zverev’s 2022 season, which most unexpectedly followed the absolute consistency he had delighted the pubic with just few months before.  

Highs and lows had marked his clay season too: from the amazing quarter final he won against Sinner in Monte Carlo, to his dejected loss to Rune in Munich. Felix Auger-Aliassime indeed is one of the emerging stars of tennis, with one of the most technically complete games across the Tour, yet he still has to prove his full potential on clay. His emphatic win in the previous round against a much more credited clay-courter, Jannik Sinner, surely boosted his perspectives.

Zverev’s recent hardships seemed to have been left behind, the way he stormed into the match. Though he conceded two points in his first service game, he was pounding down groundstrokes off both wings. His superb backhands down the line reaped points. He broke Aliassime in the third game, also helped by a double fault of the Canadian.

He cruised through his next service games, losing just one point. In the ninth game Aliassime, overpowered from the baseline, ventured out into one of his tentative forays to the net, which cost him a 15-30 lag.  Zverev clutched the opportunity and sealed the first set with a second break, playing the powerful, meticulous, overflowing tennis which had flown him to the stars in his second ATP Finals triumph in November 2021.

Zverev showed no signs of relenting pressure in the first service game of the second set, not even bothered by two double faults.  

Auger Aliassime, unable to cope with the greater power of the German, was constantly succumbing after few shots and lost his service again in the second game.

Game 3 was the longest of the match and could have been a turning point. Alternating winners and double faults, Zverev faced a break point, but saved it winning the longest rally of the match so far, 13 strokes. A third double fault brought in a second break point but again he saved it eliciting an error form his opponent with a powerful crosscourt forehand. He finally held serve.

The match was about to swing definitively in favour of Zverev in the fifth game. Serving 1-4 down, not supported by any encouraging percentage of first serves, overpowered from the baseline, Aliassime faced 4 break points. On the brink of defeat, he put up some fight and succeeded in holding a service game which lasted 16 minutes and which saw him win his first long rally of the match, 26 shots. 

This time Zverev appeared shaken. His first serve percentage slumped in the following game, in which he served his sixth and seventh double, and a second quivering serve at 120 kmph which Roger pounced on to chisel his way back in the match.

Aliassime then held serve, surfacing at 4 games all. Winning the first point off Zverev’s following service game, he and moved ahead for the first time in the set. The German didn’t falter and led 40-15. But another double fault and unforced errors poured in and Zverev faced a break point. He saved it with a brave angled crosscourt backhand. And in the next two points hit two serves at 214 km which tugged him to 5-4.

In the tenth game a rash foray to the net and unforced errors off the forehand by Aliassime gifted Zverev a first match point, but the Canadian erased it with a powerful first serve. Roger didn’t finish a smash off and Zverev earned his second match point with a backhand down the line. Auger played three aggressive points and was back even, 5-5.

When Zverev held serve comfortably and Aliassime was 30-0, this rollercoaster set appeared to be heading toward a decisive tiebreak.

Aliassime seemed to be cruising to a comfortable service hold after rising to 30 love then incredibly fell back into a swamp of unforced errors and Zverev closed out the match at 7-5.