"Tennis is a psychological game" says Tsitsipas after enduring Felix Auger-Aliassime

Tsitsipas was cruising for the large majority of the match however a slight dip in focus complicated things for him in the 2nd set which he ended up losing 5-7. The Canadian saved two match points in that set to force a decider. Even so, Tsitispa proved calm smashing his opponent 6-1 in the final one.

After the match he said:

"Tennis is a psychological game and things like this happen. It’s important to just stick to your roots and what you are doing best. It might not have been ideal in the second set, especially when I made so many opportunities and had such a good opportunity to close it a bit earlier. But with a lot of patience and just trying to find that opportunity in the third set, I was stepping in, I was really determined and I didn’t let go.”

Tsitsipas is playing better tennis overall in Cincinnati than he did in Toronto and he will hope that will propel him further than the event in Toronto (lost in the semifinal to Opelka). Asked what worked so well for him in the first and 3rd set he said:

“[I was] determined, fierce and feisty when I had to be. I’m just filled with many emotions right now. Things got really tough at some point and I had to find different solutions and come up with some new ideas and I followed through. [I] made it a choice of mine to step in with aggression and build up the game.”

The next opponent will be Alexander Zverev who has not lost since Wimbledon.