The Greek needed to battle for more than 4 hours against the Czech Zdenek Kolar in four sets (6-3, 7-6(8), 6-7(3), 7-6(7)) in their duel for the second round of Roland Garros. Tsitsipas will have another challenge against the Swede Mikael Ymer looking to access the round of 16.
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Stefano Tsitsipas came from surviving the limit in the debut of Roland Garros. The Greek came back from two adverse sets to end up beating Musetti and this time a priori he had a simpler match and that is that he had to measure himself against Kolarwho came from the previous phase and is a regular on the Challenger circuit.
Tsitsipas survives based on hierarchy
The game started evenly and Kolar was standing up from the back of the track to the Hellenic. Tsitsipas he was more successful in the key points of the first sleeve and for this reason the part ended up being won, thanks to a single break. Both had two break balls, but the one who took advantage of them was Stefanos to take the first set and start to get the victory on track.
With a different attitude, the Czech came out who, from the beginning of the second round, made it clear to Tsitsipas that he was not going to give up. Within a few minutes he went up to 4-1 and the alarms went off in the Greek. This time if Tsitsipas was able to react and equalize the score. The main problem for Stefanos came in the twelfth game. With his service he saw how his rival had two set ballsbut did not take advantage of any and finally went to the tie-break. After saving another set ball against he managed to take a second set in which he survived in extremis.
With almost no alternatives to the rest they were throughout the third quarter. Kolar seemed to be comfortable and still believe in the comeback. Tsitsipas, for his part, had the only break ball, but he did not hit it. Again they went to sudden death. Here the great favorite was again Tsitsipas but this time the balance tipped for the Czech who continued to believe in his options after winning the first quarter in his favor.
Tsitsipas was the one who managed to get on top of the scoreboard early on, achieving a difference that could set defining trends in the match. However, Kolar regained that lead, adding total drama to this fourth set. The public seemed to support the Czech more, with the intention of seeing more tennis on the Parisian night. The Greek would have his chances to get back in front, but he couldn’t avoid going to another tiebreak. In that tiebreaker, Kolar found the best version of himself, taking a 6-2 that left him close to reaching a fifth set. But Tsitsipas’ hierarchy is undeniable, and just as he raised a 0-2 in the first round, this time he added several consecutive points to end up winning with a final 9-7.
