Stefanos Tsitsipas achieved a double success at the Rolex Paris Masters. Not only did the Greek qualify for the quarter-finals of the Parisian Masters 1000 after an impressive match against Alexander Zverev (7-6 [2], 6-4), but he also secured his participation in the Masters which will begin on November 12 in Turin.
After a season without any major breakthrough (except for a title in Los Cabos in August), Tsitsipas has been confirming in recent weeks that he should not be forgotten when listing serious outsiders behind the unwavering Djokovic and Alcaraz. As a semi-finalist in Antwerp and Vienna, the Greek is regaining his form and showing promising intentions on the court.
No consequence to a physical alert
Facing Zverev, he was conquering from the first to the last exchange, far from the player who would get easily annoyed that we had become accustomed to seeing. Impeccable in the first four games where he left Zverev behind, perhaps still stiff after the efforts made the day before to defeat Ugo Humbert, Tsitsipas was only stopped by a physical alert. On an innocuous movement, he felt a pain in his right calf that seemed significant enough to stop the game and request immediate intervention from the physiotherapist.
More scared than harmed, but it allowed Zverev to come back into the match and eventually break back to level the score at 5-5. However, once he reached the tie-break, Tsitsipas resumed his victorious march and took the lead.
With 33 winners and only 20 unforced errors in the match, he did not lower his intensity in the second set. He broke Zverev’s serve at the beginning and maintained his advantage until the end. Although Zverev saved two match points on his serve, he couldn’t do anything about the third one (an ace) and allowed Tsitsipas to continue his journey and project himself towards Turin. Also in the competition, the German no longer has his destiny in his own hands. Ranked seventh in the Race, he could be overtaken in Paris by Holger Rune (facing David Altmaier in the evening) and Hubert Hurkacz, who defeated Francisco Cerundolo.
