Tsitsipas Holds Nerve To Oust Barrere In Halle

TERRA WORTMANN OPEN/Mathias Schulz

Stefanos Tsitsipas overcame a ferocious challenge from Gregoire Barrere to kick-start his Terra Wortmann Open campign on Monday. The second seed edged his French opponent 6-7(6), 6-4, 7-6(3) in Halle.

Tsitsipas trailed by a set and a break at 6-7(6), 1-3, but wore Barrere down for a two-hour, 22-minute victory. The Greek was the more consistent player in the second half of the match, particularly during the deciding-set tie-break, as he booked a second-round clash against Nicolas Jarry at the grass-court ATP 500.

“I just tried smiling. It kind of worked,” said Tsitsipas, when asked about how he kept his cool when trailing in the second set. “At that point you think, ‘I’ve been giving 100 per cent’. I was trying to think, ‘What can I do better?’

“I wasn’t too consistent with my returns. He had a few second serves where I tried to do much. I just thought I could have done much better in that department and psychologically I think it helped my opponent [settle].”

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His victory against the World No. 58 was a gutsy response from Tsitsipas after he began his grass-court season with defeat to Richard Gasquet in ‘s-Hertogenbosch last week. The Greek deployed serve-and-volley tactics effectively to forge his comeback inside OWL ARENA, where he won 76 per cent (28/37) of points when he came to the net.

“I feel so in my natural habitat when I’m in front of the net,” said Tsitsipas. “Serve and volleying, I don’t get to do that very often and I feel like grass allows me to do that a bit more… My serve proved to be a massive weapon today in regards of giving me that first volley I was looking for and making my life a bit easier at the net.”

The World No. 5 Tsitsipas is now 32-10 for the 2023 season. The 24-year-old, who reached the championship match at January’s Australian Open and in Barcelona in April, is chasing his first title of the year. The Greek reached the second round in Halle on his two previous appearances, in 2018 and 2022.

Chilean Jarry earlier successfully transferred his strong clay-court form to the grass to defeat Corentin Moutet 6-3, 7-5 on his Halle debut. Jarry, who lifted the title in Geneva, reached the fourth round at Roland Garros, and arrived in Germany at a career-high No. 28 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, clinched a break of Moutet’s serve late in each set to complete a one-hour, 46-minute win.

Another triumphant Halle debutant on Monday was Denis Shapovalov, who moved past Lloyd Harris 7-6(1), 6-4 to reach the second round. The World No. 27, a 2021 semi-finalist on grass at Wimbledon, next plays the winner of Tuesday’s blockbuster clash between Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem.