Stefanos Tsitsipas advances at Citi Open, but Felix Auger-Aliassime overpowered by Marin Cilic
Top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas safely advanced at the Citi Open with a comfortable win over Jordan Thompson, but Felix Auger-Aliassime crashed out.
Tsitsipas, the world number six, has sometimes struggled for efficiency in his game, but showed no signs of those shortcomings in a routine 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) success.
“It’s very pleasing knowing that I can be mature and handle those situations very bravely, so I’m really happy with that,” Tsitsipas said afterwards.
“I showed character out there. I played heroic tennis, I would say, in those crucial moments. That was very nice to see.”
“When I stick to my game and find the way I have to execute my game plan, not pay attention too much to what my opponent is doing on the other side of the court, I usually play my best.
“That’s exactly what I was doing and it was working pretty well, so I’m trying to focus on that.”
There was disappointment for fellow-NextGen star Auger-Aliassime, though, as sixth seed Marin Cilic simply had too much for him.
Cilic, a former US Open Champion, cruised to a 6-4, 6-3 win over the 18-year-old Canadian, who is determined to seek out the positives.
“I don’t know what it was, but I couldn’t figure it out,” Auger-Aliassime admitted.
“It was just really tough out there today, in every way. I just felt like I couldn’t even play close to what I’m able to.”
“I’m going to go back to training, and that’s just how I’m going to live with it.
“There’s not much I can do anymore except going back to training, try to improve, and that’s what I will try to do.”
“Every loss for sure is an opportunity to improve. Today has shown that I need to improve a lot of things still, but I’ll just take the days that I have before Rogers Cup to see what I can work on before starting there.”
Tsitsipas will face Benoit Paire, who overcame John Isner, next, while there were also wins for Kyle Edmund and Daniil Medvedev.
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