Stefanos Tsitsipas has begun his grass season in winning fashion at the Halle Open, defeating home country wild card Henri Squire 7-6(7), 7-6(2).
The Greek saved a set point in the first-set tiebreaker, dropped just three points behind his second serve and did not face a break point throughout the hard-fought 92-minute match.
Tsitsipas was kept on his toes by the 23-year-old, as the two had a hard fought even matchup.
He found himself unable to break Squire’s serve throughout the match so he had to rely on his experience in tie-breaks, clinching both sets with scores of 7-6.
In the first set, the 25-year-old prevailed 9-7 in the tie-break while in the second, he found his rhythm more comfortably, securing a 7-2 victory in the tie-break to seal the match.
The top ranked Greek is aiming for his second grass trophy (2022 Mallorca) and 12th career ATP Tour trophy.
This week marks Tsitsipas’ fourth appearance in Halle but he is yet to move past the second round at the ATP 500 event.
In the second round he’ll next face either Italian Luciano Darderi or another home country hope in German Jan-Lennard Struff.
With AAP
