Stefanos Tsitsipas is back on track at the Cincy Open with his 4th round win against Diego Schwartzmann (6/3 6/3).
The young Greek player had an amazing 2022 debut. He reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open (6/7 6/4 4/6 1/6 against Daniil Medvedev) despite a right wrist injury barely healed. Tsitsipas then had a great clay season and managed to win back-to-back titles in Monte-Carlo. Unexpectedly, he showed a poor level of tennis at Roland Garros and couldn’t reach the second week (5/7 6/3 3/6 4/6 against Holger Rune in the 4th round). He won his first trophy on grass at the ATP 250 in Majorca but then lost in the 3rd round of Wimbledon, defeated by Nick Kyrgios (7/6 4/6 3/6 6/7).
His disappointing performance at the French Open and his early elimination at the Rogers Cup last week made him fall to 7th in the world, his worst ranking since 2019. Reaching the last rounds of the Cincy Open seems crucial for Stefanos Tsitsipas if he wants a chance to keep his points and arrive at the US Open with confidence.
After his win in the first round against Filip Krajinovic (6/3 6/4), the 24 years old player began his 4th round peacefully. He got a double break advantage from the beginning of the match against Diego Schwartzman. During the first minutes of the encounter, the two players had powerful duels from the back of the court. The Greek found great deepness and accepted long rallies – which is kind of unusual. Despite Stefanos Tsitsipas’ domination, the Argentinian managed to break back and reduced the point gap (4/2) by taking more initiatives. The number 7 in the world found back his aggressive game style. He won the first set 6/3, without having to do much.
Stefanos Tsitsipas was unstoppable in the second set. He made very rare faults, multiplied successful points at the net and served incredibly well when it mattered. Diego Schwartman ran out of solutions. The current 16th in the world piled up unforced errors and didn’t manage to serve well – only 50% of first serves and about ten double faults during the entire match. After converting 2 break points, Tsitsipas lead 5/2 – he had to serve for the match. But the Greek showed febrility and couldn’t end the match. He had to wait for his 3rd match point on the opponent serve to win the encounter : 6/3 6/3.
Solid results in Cincinnati and especially at the US Open would allow Stefanos Tsitsipas to win big points. Often in the shadow of Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev, or even of much younger players as Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner; to get back in the top 5 of the ATP Rankings would be a first step to a greater recognition from the tennis world.
Marnie Abbou