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Greek tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas insisted he entered his opening match at the Swiss Indoors Basel knowing it wouldn't be easy against world No. 42 Albert Ramos-Vinolas. Tsitsipas, seeded at No. 3, kicked off his Basel campaign with a straight-set win as he saw off the experienced Spaniard 6-3 7-6 (6) in just over an hour and a half of play.
"I knew it was going to be a difficult battle out there. He fought hard and gave me a hard time out there, but I’m satisfied and happy that this match didn’t go longer or to three sets," Tsitsipas said after the match, per the ATP website.
"The players that make it into [ATP 500] tournaments are all playing well, so I expect every match to be difficult. You have to fight for everything." World No. 7 Tsitsipas earned the first break of the match in the sixth game of the first set and then routinely held on to his serve to win the opener.
Ramos-Vinolas recovered from a break down in the second set to force a tie-break -- where saved two consecutive match points but couldn't save the third as the Greek escaped with a straight-set win. The 21-year-old Greek plays next against the winner of the match between Spain's Pablo Andujar and qualifier Ricardas Berankis.