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Greek tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas was made to work hard during his Rotterdam opener and after the match he spoke extremely highly of Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. Tsitsipas, ranked at No. 4 in the world, entered the match as the big favorite but Davidovich Fokina put up a good fight and fell just short of pulling off an upset in Rotterdam.
Fortunately for No. 1 seed Tsitsipas, he escaped with a 7-5 6-7 (1) 6-4 win and progressed into the Rotterdam round-of-16. It was the second meeting between the two. They clashed for the first time at the Monte Carlo Masters last year.
Back then, Tsitsipas won the opening set before Davidovich Fokina retired the match. "It was a great battle; he gave me some of the best tennis I have seen him play,” Tsitsipas said, per the ATP Tour website. “He was very fired up today and making the best out of every single shot.
He was hitting huge winners from behind the baseline. He's one of the best young players who I have played."
Tsitsipas avoided a surprise loss
Tsitsipas started the match with a 2-0 lead but Davidovich Fokina responded with back-to-back breaks to take a 3-2 lead.
Davidovich Fokina's lead was also short-lived as Tsitsipas broke back the Spaniard in the sixth game. Davidovich Fokina broke Tsitsipas in the ninth game but failed to serve out for the set in the 10th game as Tsitsipas responded with back-to-back breaks to overturn the deficit and win the opener.
Tsitsipas paid the price for blowing an early second set break as Davidovich Fokina forced a tie-break, which he dominated to send the match into a third set. Tsitsipas bounced back in the decider as he broke Davidovich Fokina in the seventh game and held on to his serve the rest of the way to clinch a three-set win.
Tsitsipas is targeting to win his first Rotterdam title this week. Tsitsipas had a deep run in Rotterdam last year as he made the semifinal at the tournament. Tsitsipas didn't make a promising start but he has time to lift his level.