Stefanos Tsitsipas had a tough time with cheeky Czech Zdenek Kolar. Qualifying forced the Greek to break the tie three times and push him harder than he would have liked. But in the end the candidate won after Casper Rudd and Daniil Medvedev.
Stefanos Tsitsipas had to bite during the match.
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Stefanos Tsitsipas really had to fight the cheeky Zdenek Kolar. After losing Group A qualifiers against the Greek 3:6, hardly anyone thought the match would develop into a real thrill. But that was the case. Kollar grew more and more, played quietly and challenged Tsitsipas more than he would have liked.
Tsitsipas got the second set in the match, but the pressure remained high – and his nerves were frayed. The third round was also decided in a tiebreak, but this time in favor of the underdog who was largely behind the crowd. Tsitsipas had to fight more, but still couldn’t control the match – and had to go into the tiebreak again. At first it looked good for Kolar, who was already 5:2 ahead. But then his nerves soured too, the Czech made a lot of mistakes and ended up empty-handed.
Tsitspas won 6:3, 7:6, 6:7, 7:6 and shivered in the next round to the applause of his parents.
Medvedev and Rod continue easily
In the morning, Kasper Ruud, seeded 8th in the seed list, had no problem with Emil Rossovoori of Finland – the Norwegian clearly won in three sets (6:3, 6:4, 6:2). Daniil Medvedev (2) did the same thing as Rudd, 6:3, 6:4 and 6:3 against Serbian Laslo Djeri after a focused performance by the Russian, who met a Serbian man again in the next round.
Miomir Kekmanovich defeated Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik in four sets 4:6, 7:5, 6:2, 6:1 and once again confirmed that he made a leap in performance in 2022.
