Tsitsipas completes Cincinnati comeback, Rune rallies past Berrettini

Stefanos Tsitsipas dug deep to get his North American hard-court summer moving on Wednesday at the Cincinnati Open.

Competing at the ATP Masters 1000 event off the back of an opening-round defeat in Montreal, Tsitsipas rallied from a set and a break down to defeat Jan-Lennard Struff 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. The Greek created plenty of opportunities on return across the second and third sets, when he converted three of 14 break points he earned en route to a one-hour, 57-minute triumph.

“I felt like I was in a great flow state towards the end of the match with my serve,” said Tsitsipas in his post-match interview. “Immediately my groundstrokes improved, immediately my confidence to come forward and close in improved, so there were a lot of improvements that contributed to my game today.

“I was down a break, and I managed to keep on fighting and get the break back. Suddenly I felt like I was starting to figure out what really worked behind his serve. He made a few double faults, and I took that chance, got myself in the lead, and I think once I started reminding myself of my best qualities as a player, these things really started working on court. It gave me a massive push to [close out the match].”

Mid-match improvements ✅✅✅✅@steftsitsipas made some changes and his #ShotQuality soared 📈#ShotQuality is calculated in real-time by analysing each shot's speed, spin, depth, width, and the impact it has on the opponent#TennisInsights | @atptour | @CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/sqOfhxigAY

— Tennis Insights (@tennis_insights) August 14, 2024

The way the match ended was in stark contrast to the opening set, during which Struff won all 15 points behind his first serve and did not face a break point, according to Infosys ATP Stats. The German’s victory bid was ultimately undermined by his delivery, however, as double faults contributed to him being broken in the final game of the second set and again in the second game of the decider.

A finalist in 2022 in Cincinnati, Tsitsipas’ next challenge at this year’s edition of the Ohio event will be a second-round clash with Jack Draper or qualifier Jaume Munar.

The 26-year-old Greek, who is competing in his first event since announcing the end of his coaching relationship with his father Apostolos Tsitsipas, is looking to boost his standing in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin with a deep run in Cincinnati. Tsitsipas is currently in ninth position as he chases a sixth consecutive appearance at the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals.

Felix Auger-Aliassime also bounced back from an early exit in Montreal by starting strongly in Cincinnati. The Canadian eased to a 6-3, 6-1 triumph in his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash with Aleksandar Kovacevic. A two-time quarter-finalist at the Lindner Family Tennis Center, Auger-Aliassime’s next opponent will be seventh seed Casper Ruud.

_{^{Felix Auger-Aliassime advances to the second round in Cincinnati. Photo Credit: Mike Lawrence/ATP Tour}}

Like Tsitsipas, World No. 16 Holger Rune was forced to rally for his second-round spot. The Dane did so to prevail in a blockbuster first-round clash against Matteo Berrettini.

Rune won 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 after a one-hour, 49-minute tussle for his maiden victory on his third appearance in Cincinnati. Berrettini, who entered the match on a 10-match winning streak after lifting back-to-back ATP Tour titles in Gstaad and Kitzbuhel, was unable to maintain his strong start, and the 21-year-old Rune broke serve twice in each of the second and third sets en route to his win.

After notching his 30th win of the season, the 15th-seeded Rune will next prepare for a second-round clash against qualifier Nuno Borges, who defeated Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 36, 6-1.