Tsitsipas Stays Perfect In Stockholm

Stockholm Open/Jimmy Hansen

When Stefanos Tsitsipas last competed on centre court in Stockholm four years ago, he lifted his first ATP Tour title. A lot has changed for the World No. 5 since then, but one thing remained the same on Wednesday — his perfect record at the Swedish ATP 250.

The top seed battled past serve-and-volleying American Maxime Cressy 7-6(5), 7-6(12) to reach the quarter-finals of the Stockholm Open. The 24-year-old will next face defending champion Tommy Paul or home favourite Mikael Ymer.

"I really had to hang tight in there and I delivered the shots that I had to in that second tie-break, which was very crucial," Tsitsipas said. "He was serving extremely well, catching the lines, being very precise and I really went for it in that one."

Cressy played aggressive, net-rushing tennis to apply plenty of pressure on his Top 5 opponent. But Tsitsipas remained calm in the critical moments to triumph after two hours and four minutes.

The American earned three set points in the second-set tie-break to force a decider, but Tsitsipas maintained pressure in tense baseline rallies and kept his opponent from approaching the net. The Greek also used his own serve as a weapon, winning 91 per cent of his first-serve points (52/57) in the match.

Tsitsipas has already qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals, which will be played from 13-20 November in Turin. This week, he is trying to claim his first trophy since emerging victorious in Mallorca during the grass-court season. The Greek also successfully defended his Rolex Monte Carlo Masters title during the clay-court season.

Did You Know?
Tsitsipas has won four of his five career matches in Stockholm in straight sets. The only set he lost at the tournament came in the second set of his opening-round match against John Millman in 2018.