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Second-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas said he was glad with the way he fought against Marcos Giron as he acknowledged the opponent and playing conditions in Mallorca were not easy to deal with. On Thursday, Tsitsipas survived a scare as he needed three sets to beat Giron 7-6 (5) 4-6 6-3.
In the Mallorca semifinal, Tsitsipas faces Benjamin Bonzi. "It was a lot of work today. It was not easy," Tsitsipas said in his on-court interview, per the ATP website. "I had to deal with the heat, had to deal with my opponent playing great.
It was a big physical effort. I had the fighting spirit."
Tsitsipas edged out Giron in three sets
Tsitsipas earned the first break of the match in the fifth game but his lead was short-lived as Giron broke back in the eighth game to tie the first set to four games apiece.
After blowing his first break, Tsitsipas had a chance to break Giron again in the ninth game but he missed out on two consecutive break points. In the 11th game, Tsitsipas managed to break Giron and take a 6-5 lead but then failed to serve out for the first set in the 12th game.
After recovering from a break twice, Giron had a 5-4 lead in the tie-break. Two points away from losing the first set, Tsitsipas was able to come up big as he won three points in a row to win a tight first set. After losing the first set, Giron had a break point chance in the third game but failed to realize.
In the seventh game, Giron missed out on two more break points. After missing out on three break points, Giron finally broke Tsitsipas in the ninth game for a 5-4 lead. In the 10th game, Giron realized his first set point to force a decider.
After losing the second set, Tsitsipas faced two break points in the opening game of the third set but he was able to save them and avoid going down by an early break. In the eighth game, Tsitsipas broke Giron for a 5-3 lead and served out for the match in the following game.