‘My fighting spirit made it work,’ says Stefanos Tsitsipas after breaking his Rotterdam duck
Stefanos Tsitsipas is off the mark at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament after claiming his first win in Rotterdam with a come-from-behind victory over Hubert Hurkacz.
The Greek lost his previous three first-round encounters in the Dutch city, but finally came good on Tuesday as he bounced back from a set and 0-2 down to beat the Pole 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 6-1 in two hours and seven minutes.
The second-seeded Tsitsipas won 12 of the final 14 games to secure the win.
Our Match of the Day did not disappoint! @StefTsitsipas reflects on getting a memorable victory at the #abnamrowtt:
“It was my first win in Rotterdam. I was able to reduce my unforced errors during the match and get into the zone.” pic.twitter.com/CMcP0C6bCc
— ABN AMRO WTT (@abnamrowtt) February 11, 2020
“The beginning of the match was quite unusual. I was quite nervous. I’ve never left here with a win… I just felt uncomfortable from the beginning,” he told the official ATP website.
“Then I found my way in the second set [and] got back on my feet. I think my fighting spirit made it work. I was just waiting for my moment.”
Up next is Aljaz Bedene after the Slovenian beat Benoit Paire 6-2, 6-4.
Fifth seed Fabio Fognini crashed out as the Italian was dumped out by Karen Khachanov with the Russian winning 6-3, 6-3, but seventh seed Andrey Rublev advanced with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Nikoloz Basilashvili.
G🎾🎾D start!@abnamrowtt pic.twitter.com/2vpiibFORu
— Karen Khachanov (@karenkhachanov) February 11, 2020
Canadian teenager Felix Auger-Aliassime needed three sets to advance as the 19-year-old beat Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 to set up a clash against Grigor Dimitrov.
“It was really tough, there was so many emotions running through my head,” Auger-Aliassime said. “I felt I had chances in the first game of the second set… and so many chances to make the break.
“It was really frustrating. It led me to lose focus in the second set and get broken twice, which isn’t ideal for me or normal. In the third set, it was about forgetting and moving forward.”
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