"I managed to survive" says an honest Tsitsipas after comeback win against Lehecka

Stefanos Tsitsipas was pushed really hard by ATP Tour rookie Jiri Lehecka in Rotterdam but rallied in time to win the match and secure the final.

Stefanos Tsitsipas never won an ATP 500 event despite having played a few finals but the Greek player will get another chance today. The Greek star battled back to end Czech qualifier Jiri Lehecka’s dream run in Rotterdam, edging the 20-year-old 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 to continue his title pursuit in Rotterdam. It was a very tricky affair for Tsitsiaps who labelled the win as 'survival' after the match:

“He was really pushing me,” Tsitsipas said. “I did not know what to expect, so I was trying to figure out his patterns and his game. He was playing incredibly well after the first serve, pressing and attacking like I had never seen before. I had to stay in the match and I managed to survive.”

Tsitsipas will take on Felix Auger-Aliassime in the final today at 15:30 CET and it's a matchup that has favoured the Greek. Tsitsipas won all three of their matches in 2021 and leads the head to head 5-2. Auger played brilliantly so far this year so this might be a version of Felix the Greek never saw before.