The Russian Daniel Medvedev (3) and the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (7) won the first round of the Australian Open lackluster after defeating the Frenchman from the previous round Terence Atmane, by 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 and 1-0 (ret), and the lucky Belgian who lost Zizou Bergs by 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 and 6-2, respectively.
“When I started suffering physically, he started with cramps. The conditions were brutal,” commented the Russian and third seed after the end of the match.
The German tennis player managed to disrupt the tactical plan of the rest of the Muscovite, who was positioned far from the baseline, by relying several times on the classic open left hand serve, forcing the Russian to again adjust his position. .
However, his shine faded as his inexperience in this type of scenario did not help him when it came to handling a situation with extreme conditions like this Monday.
His movements deteriorated and Medvedev punished him with several missed jabs that ended the patience of a Frenchman who decided to throw in the towel in the face of his precarious physical condition.
His next rival is the Finn Emil Ruusuvuori or the American guest Patrick Kypson, and the Russian will have the opportunity to match his score from the last edition.
For his part, the Greek also did not have a good start against the Belgian Bergs after “he had one of the lowest first serve percentages of his career in the first set,” as he himself said in the courtside interview.
“It was unexpected. Such things are dangerous, when you prepare for one kind of rival and then face another. It was not easy. The determination and brilliance in the second set helped me turn it around,” commented the Greek about his opponent’s turnaround after the Italian. Matteo Berrettini sHe will miss the competition this Sunday due to an ankle problem.
The current finalist, who lost just once in the first round in Melbourne (2018 vs. Denis Shapovalov), will face the winner of the ‘Aussie’ duel between Jordan Thompson and Aleksandar Vukic in the next round.
Source: La Verdad
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