Tsitsipas survives sticky start, accelerates past Fucsovics

Stefanos Tsitsipas pulled through a tough opening set before speeding to an ultimately comfortable first-round win Monday at Roland Garros.

The ninth-seeded Greek fended off a set point in the opening set before securing a 7-6(7), 6-4, 6-1 triumph against Marton Fucsovics. Tsitsipas appeared to settle after clinching the first-set tie-break in his second Lexus ATP Head2Head clash with Fucsovics, and he struck his groundstrokes with power off both wings en route to a two-hour, 20-minute win under the Court Suzanne-Lenglen roof.

“The beginning of it was quite tough,” said Tsitsipas in his on-court interview. “He came in with a lot of confidence and I felt that in his tennis. Having to deal with that in the beginning was not an easy task, but I saved a set point and fought my way back into the match.”

In fine form 🙌@steftsitsipas takes care of business against Fucsovics 7-6(7) 6-4 6-1 and advances to R2 in Paris!@rolandgarros | #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/YpzpPHZjXc

— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 27, 2024

Like Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters champion Tsitsipas, Fucsovics has lifted an ATP Tour trophy on clay already this season. The Bucharest champion came out firing from the baseline and tried to hurry Tsitsipas, but the No. 9 in the PIF ATP Rankings also appeared in the mood to commit to aggressive tennis. After Fucsovics let slip his set point at 7/6 in the opening tie-break, the Greek was clinical in almost everything he did.

“It was such a crucial moment, to get hold of that first set,” reflected Tsitsipas. “You never know with these kinds of things. You want to just get a lead from the very beginning, so I felt lucky in a way to walk away with the first set. I brought that confidence into the second.

“After clinching the first set, it felt like I started getting the momentum of the match and my shots were suddenly deeper, with much more acceleration than before. Getting hold of that first set was the biggest moment of the match. I played brilliant tennis towards the end and felt really comfortable with my shots, with any decision I tried to apply, it worked brilliantly.”

A finalist at the clay-court major in 2021, Tsitsipas will take on Germany’s Daniel Altmaier in the second round in Paris. The 25-year-old is now 14-3 on clay at tour-level this season, a tally that includes lifting the Monte-Carlo trophy for the third time.

Another Monday afternoon winner in Paris was Soonwoo Kwon. The South Korean beat Emil Ruusuvuori 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 to advance to face 27th seed Sebastian Korda, while Alexander Shevchenko outlasted Aslan Karatsev 6-4, 4-6, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 to set a meeting with home favourite Corentin Moutet.