(Paris) The Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas expanded his register by winning his first title on grass, at the Majorca tournament against the Spaniard Roberto Bautista, Saturday two days before the start of Wimbledon (June 27-July 11 ).
Updated yesterday at 6:17 p.m.
6e world came to the end in three sets 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7/2) and 2 h 31 min of play from his opponent, 20e in the ATP rankings.
Tsitsipas signed his 40e victory of the season, more than any other player on the circuit, and now has nine titles to his name, including two this year after the Masters 1000 in Monte-Carlo.
After an easily won first set, the 23-year-old Greek couldn’t do anything in the second set against Bautista who equalized at one set everywhere.
In the decisive set, the Spaniard first took the lead by stopping Tsitsipas to lead 5-3, but the Greek immediately came back to his level and dominated the tiebreaker to claim his third victory in as many games. duels with Bautista.
“It seems that my matches on grass last longer than those I play on clay,” he remarked after his victory.
“It was an incredible match, a fantastic battle […] For tennis, it’s great to offer matches of such a level, ”he insisted.
After his failure in 8e final of Roland-Garros where he had been eliminated by the Dane Holger Rune, Tsitsipas reassured himself before approaching Wimbledon where his best result is an 8e finals (2018) and where he was eliminated as soon as he entered the competition last year.
He is probably safe from such a misadventure this year: his first opponent will be the Swiss Alexander Ritschard, from qualifying and 192e global. But the horizon of the Greek, which will be 4e in the ATP ranking on Monday, could quickly darken: in the quarter-finals, he could meet the Italian Matteo Berrettini (11e), impressing this season on grass with titles in Stuttgart and Queen’s.