Stefanos Tsitsipas battled past Sebastian Baez 7-5 3-6 6.3 on Manolo Santana Stadium to reach the the Round of 16 at the Madrid Mutua Open. Tsitsipas reeled off the final four games of the first set after trailing 3-4 down.
Baez built up a 3-0 lead in the second set with an early break in the second game and held on her next service games to win the second set 6-3 setting up a thrilling third set.
Tsitsipas won the final three games of the third set. The Greek player broke serve to take a 5-3 lead and saved two break points to serve out the win.
Tsitsipas escaped a three-set match for the second time at this tournament after edging Dominic Thiem in the tie-break of the third set.
Tsitsipas has improved his seasonal record on clay this season to 8-2. He set up a Round of 16 match against Spain’s Bernabe Zapata Miralles, who edged past qualifier Roman Safiulin 6-3 3-6 6-3.
“I am glad I served well in some moments, in that last game. He wasn’t going to give up. He really fought for every point. I am glad that I overcame this because it was a mental battle and I had to perservere there and show that I am much stronger in terms of handling those situations and fighting back”, said Tsitipas.
If Tsitsipas wins the tournament, he will rise to world number 3 in the ATP Ranking.
Taylor Fritz edged past Christian Garin 6-1 7-6 (7-4). Fritz broke twice in the second and fourth games and held on his next service games to win the second set 6-1.
Fritz converted his fifth break point in the ninth game to take a 5-4 lead. Garin converted his only break point of the match to draw level to 5-5. Fritz earned three match points at 6-3 in the tie-break. Garin saved the first match point, but Fritz sealed the win on his second opportunity. Fritz converted three of his twelve break points.
Fritz levelled his head-to-head series with Garin to 1-1.
“I think in the second set when I had some chances. I wasn’t taking them. When that happens, it turns into one of these matches, where I have all the chances and he going to get one, and he is going to take it. I think he did well to fight well off some break points and he made the match a bit tighter”, said Fritz. Zhang Zhizheng came back to beat Cameron Norrie 2-6 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-2).
