French Open: Stefanos Tsitsipas passes a Jiri Vesely first round test
Putting the match to bed with a cracking inside out forehand winner from just behind the baseline, Stefanos Tsitsipas turned back towards his box with fists raised, pumping the right one. He then pointed his finger to his temple, animated and muttering words all along.
An opening round win for a world No. 5 in a Grand Slam seldom elicits an expressive and extended celebration of such kind, that too from the Greek, who is not known for theatrics. However, on a sun-kissed Court Philippe-Chatrier in a Sunday start to the 2023 French Open, Tsitsipas was made to sweat and stretch by 455th-ranked Czech Jiri Vesely, who has played all of two Challenger events this year coming back from an injury-troubled period.
Tsitsipas did come through 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(7) after a fourth-set tiebreaker where he had to save four set points to thwart a decider. But it did reaffirm the subdued talk around the 2021 Roland Garros finalist’s title prospects this year in Paris, where he is in the same half of the draw as US Open champion Carlos Alcaraz and two-time French Open winner Novak Djokovic.
Since losing to Djokovic in the Australian Open final this year, Tsitsipas has had a rather underwhelming string of results. Defeats to Italy's Jannik Sinner (Rotterdam Round of 16), Australian Jordan Thompson (Indian Wells second round) and Russian Karen Khachanov (Miami Round of 16) did not help going into the clay swing.
On a surface that has been more productive for the 24-year-old, he was shown the door by American Taylor Fritz and German Jan-Lennard Struff in Monte Carlo and Madrid, respectively. Tsitsipas couldn't also get past Alcaraz in the Barcelona final and Daniil Medvedev in the Rome semi-final, lacking that cutting edge in a season where he is yet to win a trophy.
It reflected in his Paris opener as well. Vesely, to be fair, is a tricky customer, among the few on the ATP Tour who can flaunt an unbeaten head-to-head record with Djokovic (2-0). The southpaw loves to keep the points short and isn’t averse to the serve-and-volley play. The former world No. 35 though has been through a torrid last couple of years, having to overcome a serious Covid infection, injuries from a car accident and a hamstring problem that hampered him for much of last season. Since the 2022 US Open, Vesely has competed in just two Challenger tournaments and four matches and his ranking has plummeted to below 400.
Up against Tsitsipas in his first Tour-level match since last August was, therefore, a huge ask. Yet, it was Vesely who began brighter, earning a break on Tsitsipas’s second service game as the Greek searched for early rhythm. A sloppy game serving for the set at 5-4, however, cost Vesely and gave a look-in for Tsitsipas, who did not need a second invitation to drift ahead.
He cruised in the second set and for the early part of the third before the errors —Tsitsipas finished with 30 of them and 58 winners—mounted just at the wrong time.
Serving to stay in the set, a wide backhand from Tsitsipas handed Vesely two set points and a forehand into the net the set. With the battle turning tougher, Tsitsipas seized the first advantage in the third game of the fourth set but was immediately broken back with a double fault. Back-to-back forehand errors again in the eighth game had him down 15-40 before he dug in to hold. So did Vesely, saving three break points in the next game as it needed a tiebreaker, and four blown set points from Vesely, for Tsitsipas to avoid being taken the distance in his opener.
“I told myself there is no chance this is going to five sets,” Tsitsipas, talking about the “quite stressful” prospect of a looming deciding set, said on court. “He was a difficult obstacle today, I won't lie. He gave me a hard time. But I’m happy I could overcome it.”
Boos to begin with
Minutes before Tsitsipas entered the court, Chatrier witnessed some drama as the sparse crowd booed Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk for avoiding the post-match handshake with world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in a first-round contest with political undertones.
Kostyuk has been among the most vocal Ukrainians in favour of banning Russian and Belarusian pros from the tour since the war broke out. In last year's US Open too she refused to greet Belarus' Victoria Azarenka across the net, tapping her racquet instead. Even that wasn’t coming after a 6-3, 6-2 loss to Sabalenka with
Kostyuk walking straight back to her chair after shaking hands with the umpire.
As the crowd began booing, Sabalenka initially thought it was directed at her and reacted with an exaggerated bow, only to soon realise it was meant for her opponent.
“I have to say. I didn’t expect it,” Kostyuk said of the jeers. “People should be, honestly, embarrassed.”
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
