French Open 2021: Stefanos Tsitsipas blows past Pablo Carreno Busta to make it to the Quarterfinals
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Stefanos Tsitsipas
The most successful player on Clay this year, Stefanos Tsitsipas blasted past Spanish 12th seed Pablo Carreno Busta to make it to the quarter-final of the 2021 French Open. The Greek came out the victor in just over two hours in straight sets 6-3,6-2,7-5.
With this win, the World No.5 has won 20 matches on Clay this year, more than anybody else on tour and is still going very strong. This is his second consecutive quarterfinal at Roland Garros, having made it to the semifinals last time around.
Tsitsipas was moving very quickly on the court from the first game itself. While Carreno Busta struggled with movement, the Greek moved perfectly under the Sun and coupled it with his powerful groundstrokes. He broke the Spanirad upfront and took an early 3-0 lead. And that break of serve turned out to be the decider for the outcome. Both players held serve comfortably thereafter and Tsitsipas took the first set 6-3 in 43 minutes.
The No.5 seed showed more intent in the start of the second set and was rewarded by a string of unforced errors from Carreno Busta too. He soon broke him twice in the first two games and took an unmatched 4-0 lead. The remainder of the set was on serve and Tsitsipas won it 6-2.
The third set was a lot tighter than the first two and saw Carreno Busta stepping up his game. The Spanirad broke for the first time in the set and took a 3-0 lead. At 4-2, he seemed to be running away with the set, but the Greek broke back again and drew at 5-5. He then got the all-important break and closed out the set 7-5 in 53 minutes.
‘I love the people, love the attention’: Stefanos Tsitsipas
In the on court interview, Tsitsipas acknowledged the importance of crowd and how it affects his game positvely. He said: “I love the people, love the attention. Before the tournament, we had an opportunity to play in front of crowd but it kept going back and forth. Now, having people around, not only people from Greece but people from all over Europe who come and watch Roland Garros, who enjoy watching good tennis, I am feeling a great sensation from it.”
Tsitsipas completely dominated the first two sets hitting just 8 unforced errors. He reflected upon his level of play.
“It was working good for me. I was feeling good on court and my tactics were working. I felt comfortable running around the court. I missed a couple of drop shots and need a bit of touch there but overall I felt great. My serve was working good and I was able to penetrate with my shots that helped me get today’s win,” he said.
Tsitsipas will be up against second seed Daniil Medvedev next on Tuesday in the quarterfinals.
Also read: BREAKING: Roger Federer withdraws from French Open 2021
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Lakshya Chopra
(2595 Articles Published)