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Greek tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas was happy with the way his match against Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka went. Tsitsipas, seeded at No. 2, handed a 6-3 6-4 loss to world No. 60 Nishioka in the Lyon quarterfinal. Tsitsipas claimed the first break of the match in the sixth game, before routinely serving out for the opener in the ninth game.
Tsitsipas then made a good start to the second set, having broken Nishioka in the third game. The Greek converted his first match point in the 10th game to seal a straight-set win over Nishioka. “It was a good match from my side, he was serving well,” said Tsitsipas, per the ATP website.
“His game is a little unpredictable and he is one of the best left-handers out here. It’s never easy to construct the point and he is able to penetrate and play shots you don’t expect. I knew he was going to fight and not give up.
I am pretty glad to have won”.
Tsitsipas plays Lorenzo Musetti next
Rising Italian star Musetti overcame top-ranked Slovenian tennis player Aljaz Bedene in straight sets 6-3 7-6 (2) to set up a Lyon semifinal against Tsitsipas.
Musetti broke Bedene in the sixth game of the first set, before serving out for the opener in the ninth game. Musetti claimed back-to-back breaks to win four games in a row and take a 6-5 lead in the second set but then he failed to serve out for the match in the following game.
However, Musetti kept his focus as he dominated Bedene in the tie-break to complete a straight-set win. “It was a crazy end,” said Musetti. “I was 6-5 up, and at 30/30 played a really bad volley and hit an underarm serve.
Sometimes I go out of my mind. I am really proud of myself as I was 2-5 down in the second set and I stayed focused. I tried to play each point at my best”.