Paris (AFP)
The world No.5 Stefanos Tsitsipas qualified without trembling on Sunday for the quarter-finals of Roland Garros against the Spaniard Pablo Carreno (12th), beaten 6-3, 6-2, 7-5, and will face the World 2nd Daniil Medvedev in the next round.
The Greek won his 37th game this season, including 20 on clay, more than any other player since the start of the year.
After winning the first two rounds as a boss, Tsitsipas barely let Carreno disturb him for a few games at the start of the third set: the Spaniard, quarter-finalist Porte d'Auteuil last year, has made the entry break, going as far as leading 4-1, before seeing the Greek return two games later.
The latter then resumed his march forward by once again taking the service of his opponent, before winning in 2:07.
"Everything worked out well for me today. I felt good on the court, the strategy I adopted paid off, my serve was good ... Games with a player like Pablo help me. to put out my best tennis, ”Tsitsipas said on court just after winning.
Already winner this year of two titles on ocher (Monte-Carlo and Lyon), the world No. 5 confirms his status as a strongman in the second part of the Parisian table.
The other favorites, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, are all in the upper part, where Roger Federer was also located before withdrawing on Sunday afternoon.
But to reach the last four, like last year, Tsitsipas will have to beat Medvedev, who has already beaten him in 6 of their previous 7 meetings.
The Russian is certainly not an amateur of clay, but is gradually gaining strength at Roland Garros, where before this year he had never won a single match.
With his success on Sunday against Cristian Garin, he is now four victories at Porte d'Auteuil.
"He's a big server. He's improved a lot on that over the years. I'm going to have to face it all, play well. But no matter who I'm up against, I have to first and foremost. unfold my game in fact, and not think about the rest. And then we'll see what happens, "reacted Tsitsipas in a press conference.
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