Top seed Tsitsipas arrived in the Netherlands on the back of losing the season-opening Grand Slam final against Novak Djokovic while he also lost his doubles opener alongside his brother Petros at the ATP 500 event on Monday, although he did win two Davis Cup singles rubbers for Greece against Ecuador.
Additionally, he struggled to get going against Ruusuvuori in the singles opening round before breaking in game five, but once he got rolling it was easy sailing.
The Greek won 7-5, 6-1 in one hour and 33 minutes after breaking back in game five and breaking again to end the match. He also won the second set on two breaks.
After the victory, Tsitsipas stated, “My footwork became better with time. “I believe I wasn’t very well adjusted in those first few games, and it required some time to discover the proper footwork, [get used to] the speed of the court, and [acclimatise] to the new conditions.
“In the previous game, with Ruusuvuori leading 5-3, I had a chance to rally. I recovered from it, played some amazing tennis, and won the crucial first set back. I believe that point forward, the tennis was immaculate. I was successful in taking some excellent pictures.
The following player will either be Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi or Jannik Sinner, who just won the Open Sud de France in Montpellier.
In Rotterdam, the defending champion Auger-Aliassime defeated Lorenzo Sonego 6-2, 6-3 to improve to 13-1 in his last 14 games.
Last year, Auger-Aliassime won his first singles match in the competition, defeating Tsitsipas in the championship match. In 2020, he came in second place to Gael Monfils.
The Canadian had a good start, breaking in games six and eight of the first set as well as game four of the second.
The sixth seed added, “I am tremendously delighted about this victory against a hard opponent. Sonego is a fierce competitor who frequently perseveres throughout a game, but fortunately, that wasn’t the case this time. For me, it’s a fantastic way to start the competition.
Daniil Medvedev, the sixth seed, had to work hard for his triumph, as the former world No. 1 fell behind early in their match against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina before coming back to win 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.
Davidovich Fokina broke Medvedev’s service three times in the first set and twice in the third, but he will need to improve his serving if he wants to win the tournament. Medvedev broke twice in the second set and four times in the decider.
Medvedev claimed after his victory, “I just managed to play a little bit better.” “I wouldn’t say I played much better, but I managed to exploit the key moments a little bit better, and I feel like he was missing a bit more than in the first set,” the player said.
source from: msn.com
