Melbourne [Australia], January 15 : The World No. 7 Stefanos Tsitsipas on Monday put up a fine accelerated performance to register a victory against Belgian Zizou Bergs in the ongoing Australian Open.
The Greek secured a 5-7, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 triumph to seal a spot in the second round in Melbourne for the sixth straight year.
Tsitsipas broke the 24-year-old's serve at the opening of the second set, marking a critical turning point after losing the first set. Bergs approached the net and shot a volley that bounced on the Greek side of the net before spinning back to his. At full stretch, Tsitsipas reached over the net to catch the ball before it rebounded again, just escaping the net.
The victory gave Tsitsipas a 2-0 lead in the second set, and the rest of the match was one-sided, with Bergs tiring in the sweltering circumstances. The seventh seed won 38 games, made 28 unforced errors, and broke Bergs' service seven times to progress after three hours.
"It felt great to be at that level of tennis. I was very focused, especially after losing the first set. I knew that this is my time to change things up and move on with better tennis, with better power and movement on the court and I think I outplayed him as well physically. I was stronger physically today, at least that's the way I felt. I think winning the first match today was all due to physicality and being constantly mentally involved during the match," Tsitsipas was quoted as saying by ATP.
"I was expecting Matteo and things like this are quite dangerous when you are preparing for a specific type of player. It was not easy for me but I had that determination... I am glad I turned it around and showed that fighting spirit," Tsitsipas said, who was due to play Matteo Berrettini before the Italian withdrew.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor