Stefanos Tsitsipas identifies key to progress in Paris

French Open
Stefanos Tsitsipas during a match

Stefanos Tsitsipas says that he will have to be patient if he wants to make another deep run at Roland Garros.

Tsitsipas comfortably beat Diego Schwartzman in straight sets, 6-2 6-2 6-3, to move into the French Open fourth round.

However the Greek said that the result was not as straightforward as the score might suggest.

The Argentinean hardly tested the Greek’s limits, as seen by the margin and style of the victory, demonstrating how Tsitsipas managed matters on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.

“Wasn’t easy at all”, Tsitsipas said after the win.

“I know it was three sets. So far my most difficult match in terms of concentration and having to stay in there on every single point.

“Diego did a great job fighting on every single point and not giving me any free points.”

Tsitsipas knew that his opponent wasn’t going to try to match him stroke for stroke but would run all day and keep the top ten star honest.

“I knew that I was dealing with that today and that was the biggest asset of his game which I had to take away,” Tsitsipas said.

Tsitsipas broke twice early on as he applied pressure to his struggling opponent, and sprinted into a 3-0 lead in the opening set.

The fifth seed, Schwartzman, did manage to break back as the Tsitsipas neared clinching the frame, but the fifth seed won the following game and, with it, the set, 6-2.

In the second set, the unseeded Argentinean held the score at 2-2, but he dropped the next four games as Tsitsipas appeared to be cruising to victory.

At one point Tsitsipas demonstrated incredible awareness as he smashed a low backhand winner around the net and in although he said that the shot isn’t something he trains for.

“We never practice that. It was a one off,” Tsitsipas insists.

“It was the very last millisecond that I decided that ‘you know what, forget the net, we don’t need it on that particular occasion’.

“I saw that there was a chance, that there was a gap there that I could utilise to hit that shot and it just went through.”

Tsitsipas wasn’t satisfied with his touch as the match drew to a close as he would have preferred a more clinical finish.

“It was a good match,” Tsitsipas said.

“I felt like there were a few unforced errors that I didn’t see coming at all, especially towards the last few games.

“I haven’t dealt with situations like this before, it was a little bit odd. But I’m happy. I’m happy because I put out a great fight and the crowd was by myself, which always helps”, he said.

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Stefanos Tsitsipas

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