Tsitsipas – Fokina 2-1: Hard win and further at the Rotterdam Open

Stefanos Tsitsipas met Alejandro Davidovic Fokina (No. 46 in the world) for the first round from Rotterdam Open, the third tournament for the Greek tennis player in 2022, where the Greek tennis player prevailed in sets 2-0 (7-5, 6-7, 6-4).

This was the second meeting between the two men, with Tsitsipas exiting victorious from the 2021 Monte Carlo Masters quarterfinals won by the Greek tennis player. And in that game he got injured in the first set and left after finishing it.

The Greek champion also requested a time-out due to health reasons, but continued normally before the start of the third set and won the game. In the next round, Tsitsipas meets the winner of the duo Lloyd George Harris – Ilia Ivaska, whose match takes place tomorrow (February 9th).

The game

Tsitsipas started the game very energetically, breaking Fokina’s first serve (2-0). However, the Spanish tennis player broke in the third game and equalized with his serve (2:2).

It wasn’t the only break as Fokina claimed the second straight break in game five (3-2), with Tsitsipas responding with his own break (3-3).

After the seventh game, Fokina was injured, but the doctor advised him to continue the game. He received applause for his decision to continue the game, even taking a break in the ninth game and taking the lead for dominance of the set.

However, Tsitsipas made some good shots and finished the game 7-5, winning the first set.

In the second set, the two tennis players started a little more balanced, as they defended their serve in the first five games, Tsitsipas made the coveted break in the sixth (4: 2) and took an important step towards winning the game.

Fokina responded with another break in the eighth set (4:4), with the two tennis players defending their serve and leading to the tie-break in which Fokina looked superior and in the end celebrated conquering the second set.

The third set was even tighter, in which the two tennis players put up a real fight and took every point, but were able to hold their serve in the end. All this up until the seventh game where Tsitsipas managed to break Fokina’s serve and hold in the eighth game (5-3).