LONDON: The World No.5 Stefanos Tsitsipas claimed a fourth-round spot after a straight-sets victory against Laslo Djere at the ongoing Wimbledon 2023 on Saturday.
Playing on Court 2, the fifth-seeded Greek prevailed 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-4 at Wimbledon to reach the round of 16 for the second time at the grasscourt major. Tsitsipas completed his two-hour, 10-minute victory.
Tsitsipas maintained his composure towards the finish of the tense first and second sets until an assured third-set performance secured a fourth-round matchup in London against Christopher Eubanks.
Djere had played well against Tsitsipas in the first set in their fourth Lexus ATP Head2Head matchup, but the Serbian was left to regret two double faults in the tenth game as the Greek won a crucial break to advance. Tsitsipas then put up a valiant fight to stay with his rival in the second set, rallying from 1-3 to demand a tie-break that he won from 1/3 to take overall control of the match.
Tsitsipas then exploded to a 3-1 lead in the third set that was eventually impregnable by hitting the ball cleanly off both wings. His victory was marked by resiliency, as evidenced by his lesser winning total of 26 compared to Djere’s 32.
“It’s the first time this week that I’ve made it easy for [myself]. I’ve had a [couple of] thrillers the past few days. It took Noah 14 days to build the ark and it feels like the past two matches are equivalent to something like that,” ATP.com quoted Tsitsipas saying in his on-court interview.
“I’ve never played a match that lasted two days, with rain delaying everything for so long. It’s been four days [to complete two matches]. It’s never easy, and it makes my life so much easier when I come back here, feeling the love of the crowd.”
“That second set was very important. If you don’t fight back and don’t come up with solutions, you suddenly find yourself at one set all, things change, and psychologically speaking it’s a completely different game. I’m proud of myself, because I didn’t give up there,” said Tsitsipas.
“I knew that in the tie-break in the second set, I felt the momentum switching. He missed two shots, and I felt like it was my moment to shine, and I did, so I’m really glad with that,” the World No.5 said. (ANI)