Tsitsipas outshines Dimitrov in Vienna

A brilliant first-round matchup between Grigor Dimitrov and Stefanos Tsitsipas happened in Vienna today and it was the Greek who proved better. The level of tennis was high and the tension was palpable but ultimately the Bulgarian cracked under pressure. The start of the match was much better by Dimitrov. He looked sharp and comfortable on the court while Tsitsipas struggled to find any rhythm.

Early break points were saved by both and after that, both settled in a nice rhythm that saw no break points until the end of the set. Both continued their stellar play in the tiebreak yet it was Dimitrov who had the early 4-1 lead. That lead became a 6-3 lead and the Bulgarian had 3 consecutive set points but he could not hit a forehand where he wanted to.

A couple of bad mistakes allowed the Greek to come back into the tiebreak and he would end up stealing it with 8-6. A huge missed chance by Dimitrov who lost 5 points in a row did not really affect him in the 2nd set. He served very well and generally had easier service games than Tsitsipas. He was also able to apply more pressure on the Greek than Stefanos did on him.

Dimitrov had the first break point of the 2nd set at 4-4 however Tsitsipas proved calm. That was not the case with Dimitrov who showed some nerves in the next game giving away a few points. A match point for Tsitsipas happened and another missed forehand by Dimitrov sealed the deal. A very good showing for the Greek who wiggled out of a few tricky situations to win this in two.