PARIS, May 29 — Sixth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas dug deep to reach the French Open third round today with a tense four-set victory over plucky Bolivian Hugo Dellien.
The rising Greek star, expected to reach the latter stages at Roland Garros, fought back to win 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 7-5 on Court Simonne Mathieu.
Tsitsipas will face either Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena or Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic in the last 32.
The 20-year-old started strongly with an early break, but appeared unsettled following a medical timeout for Dellien after the world number 86 appeared to twist his ankle.
Dellien quickly sealed the opening set, but Tsitsipas raced through the next two sets and seemingly towards victory.
Despite letting a 4-2 lead in the fourth set slip, the 25-year-old Dellien just would not go away, saving three match points from 0-40 down in the 10th game to level at 5-5.
But Tsitsipas did secure a third-round spot in Paris for the first time in his opponent’s next service game, curling a forehand up the line on his fourth match point. — AFP
