Stefanos Tsitsipas and Stan Wawrinka will both be encouraged by their form after progressing to the last 16 in Rotterdam with comfortable victories.
Greek world No. 33 Tsitsipas, who has not reached a quarter-final of an ATP tournament since last year’s Barcelona Open, came through his last-32 clash against eighth seed Arthur Rinderknech 7–5, 6–3 to set up a last-16 meeting with Botic van de Zandschulp.
The manner of victory will particularly please the two-time Grand Slam finalist, as he offered up just one break-point opportunity to Rinderknech while breaking serve twice himself and winning over 80 per cent of points on both his first and second serve.
It should offer some encouragement to the Greek, who has struggled for any real consistency over the past two seasons and would have come into this contest as the underdog.
There were no such struggles for veteran Stan Wawrinka, who continues to ride a wave of goodwill in his farewell year, defeating Thijs Boogaard 6–3, 6–4.
The match marked the second-largest age gap between opponents in ATP history, with Wawrinka 23 years and 3 months older than Boogaard. Only Dominic Thiem’s meeting with Thomas Muster at the 2011 Vienna Open featured a larger gap, with Thiem 25 years and 11 months younger than his fellow Austrian.
The Swiss three-time Grand Slam champion won 91% of points on his first serve and saved all three break points he faced against Boogaard, earning victory in 84 minutes.
Wawrinka will face top seed Alex de Minaur in the last 16, with the Australian having joined Daniil Medvedev in criticising the Head Tour XT ball being used at the tournament.
Wawrinka was quoted on the official ATP website after his match when discussing the Australian.
“He’s a tough player, especially in these conditions, it’s going to be difficult to generate something. But I’m looking forward to the challenge. I’ve been playing some good matches against top players, so I’m always trying to push myself.”
