Stefanos Tsitsipas made a successful debut at the Erste Bank Open Vienna on Wednesday, as he rallied past Jan-Lennard Struff to advance to the second round.
The Greek star overcame losing a first set tiebreak to rally past Struff, eking out a 6-7(3) 6-3 6-4 victory in an hour and 52 minutes.
"I'm happy that I was relaxed and in that kind of state of mind and mood. I think it helped overall my performance today," Tsitsipas said after the match. "For sure there are a lot of benefits you can take when you're playing relaxed and when you're not panicked."
The World No.5 has split meetings with Struff, as both men had two wins apiece in their head-to-head meetings prior to their most recent clash. However, it was the reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion who raised his level in the third set to oust the big-hitting German.
"I think Jan played good today and we were both serving well, playing well from the baseline. I wouldn't say there were many rallies," Tsitsipas said. "It was a demonstration of serves and I managed to overcome the difficulties that were presented in his service games."
Tsitsipas next faces former World No.3 Grigor Dimitrov, as the Bulgarian defeated Karen Khachanov 7-6(6) 6-3 in his first round match.
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