Stefanos Tsitsipas won the match of the day on Thursday by saving a match point before beating home hope Tallon Griekspoor 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6), 7-5 in a thrilling second-round match in front of a boisterous crowd at the ABN AMRO ATP 500 event in Rotterdam.
Griekspoor broke serve first with a crosscourt forehand winner to go 4-2 ahead but was broken back when serving for the set. Despite that, he held his nerve to win the tie-break with a big first serve. The Greek faced match point at 5-6 down in the second set tiebreak but saved it with two lovely backhand volleys at the net, and then snatched the set when the Dutchman hit a forehand long.
Griekspoor lost serve at the start of the third but once again broke back to level matters at four games all. But a blistering backhand return helped Tsitsipas break for the final time and he served out the match a game later to seal a marginal victory in a minute under three hours.
“Our fighting spirit was there tonight,” said Tsitsipas afterwards, who admitted being a little nervous at the end. “It’s really strange, I really wanted to go for it and close [the match] there but it’s really a question of margins. I am trying to get easier points so I am going closer [to the lines] and in those situations I might have missed a little bit more.”
Tsitsipas reached the final three years ago and entered this tournament as a wild card. He elaborated further on the tactics in today’s match. “I was trying on my serve to keep it effective and to the point. I missed a lot of first serves and was playing with a lot of second serves. I tried to that a lot more, so it dropped in speed and it gave him a bit of an edge. It wasn’t easy to manage his serve. He was playing with the home crowd. He is someone who serves very well. He is solid from everywhere. He serves and volleys more than before and is more stable.”
Meanwhile, Carlos Alcaraz was ‘unplayable’ and dropped just three games as he breezed through his second-round match against qualifier Andrea Vavassori 6-2, 6-1 in just over an hour. He converted five of his eight breakpoints and was utterly dominant on return games with the Italian winning just four points behind first serve in the whole match.
They had played once before where they contested a close first set in a tie-break but in Rotterdam the Spaniard was in total control and brought out his trick shots as early as the second game with a cheeky behind-the-back lob which helped him to win the point two shots later. Overall, he was satisfied with his level today compared to his first round which went the distance against home hope Botic van de Zandschulp.
“I’m working on keeping focussed,” he said afterwards. “What happened in the first match was lots of ups and downs. I tried not to let it happen again today. I’m happy to improve on the things I need to and today was a pretty good day for me. Last time I played him was tough.”
He later credited his team for their work in-between matches. “I think the work they are doing behind the scenes is really important. It’s important for me to feel good off the court. My team are like a family to me and it’s very important.
Tournament Director Richard Krajicek – famed for his effortless service technique and power which helped him win Wimbledon in 1996 – suggested that while Alcaraz’s game is ‘almost perfect’, he could conserve energy by winning more easy points on his first serve, and the 21-year-old agreed: “yes, that is what I am looking for, to try to improve my serve and get more free points from it.”
Elsewhere Alex De Minaur – who lost the final here last year to Jannik Sinner – continued his impressive indoor form at the event by beating rising star Jakub Mensik 6-4, 6-4. The Australian completed victory in just under 90 minutes and was full of praise for Mensik’s serve.
“It’s never easy playing Jakub, he’s one of the best servers on Tour,” said De Minaur to the ATP afterwards. “He manages to get a lot of free points and at times it’s quite frustrating. One of the key things for me in this type of matchup is to be calm and tell myself that I’m going to give myself chances on return.”
He goes on to face lucky loser Daniel Altmaier who extended his stay at the competition by beating seventh seed Arthur Fils 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.
Pedro Martinez caused the upset of the day by taking out Holger Rune ranked thirty spaces higher with relative ease 6-4, 6-1.
And in the only other match, 2021 champion Andrey Rublev beat Fabian Marozsan in a close match 7-6 (2), 7-6 (7).
