Google News ATP Roland Garros: Stefanos Tsitsipas wins from two sets to love down vs. Jaume Munar
by JOVICA ILIC
On Sunday, Stefanos Tsitsipas served for the victory against Andrey Rublev in the Hamburg final. The Greek wasted the advantage and finished runner-up, heading to Paris and hoping for a fresh start at Roland Garros. Facing Jaume Munar on Tuesday, Stefanos produced his first comeback from two sets to love down, beating the Spaniard 4-6, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 in three hours and 12 minutes on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.
Stefanos won two points more than Munar, who left everything on the court while seeking a top-10 victory, losing ground in sets four and five to suffer a tough loss and propel the Greek through. Tsitsipas grabbed six breaks and gave serve away five times, gained a boost with a strong performance in the third set and made no errors in the final two sets to hit round two.
Stefanos led 3-1 in the opener, getting broken in game five and again at 4-4 following a backhand down the line winner from Munar, who closed the opener with a hold at 15 for a 6-4. The Spaniard produced his A-game in set number two, barely losing a point on serve and stealing Stefanos' serve in games three and seven for a 6-2, moving closer to the finish line.
Tsitsipas needed a wake-up call, storming over his opponent to take the third set 6-1, rattling off the last three games of the fourth set at 3-4 to level the score and force a decider. There, we saw nine comfortable holds and a single break for the Greek at 3-3 when he forced Munar's error.
Serving for the victory, the ATP Finals champion held at 30 to move over the top and advance into the next round. A former Major finalist Kevin Anderson has been struggling to find the form after knee issues, winning four matches in 2020 before Paris and entering Roland Garros with a protected ranking.
Kevin made a strong start at Roland Garros, beating Laslo Djere 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and 11 minutes.
Stefanos Tsitsipas came from two sets to love down against Jaume Munar.
The South African fired 11 aces and got broken twice, finding his return to steal Djere's serve six times and control the scoreboard.
Anderson rattled off five straight games in the opening set for 6-2, earning two early breaks in set number two and crossing the finish line with a single break in set number three to go through. In the shortest completed match of the tournament so far, Roberto Carballes Baena needed an hour and 23 minutes to topple Steve Johnson 6-1, 6-1 6-0, dominating from start to finish to race over the top and make the best start in Paris.
Pablo Cuevas defeated a qualifier Henri Laaksonen 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 in two hours and 20 minutes, hitting more winners than unforced errors and seizing six breaks from 18 opportunities to continue where he left in Hamburg.