Stefanos Tsitsipas fought his way past Italian Lorenzo Musetti in the first round of Roland Garros in five sets. Last year’s finalist trailed 2-0 in sets, but still won 5-7 4-6 6-2 6-3 6-2.
The party didn’t end until after midnight. At 00:33 AM, the fourth-placed Tsitsipas used his third game point with a strong serve. The five-setter on the Court Philippe Chatrier lasted 3 hours and 34 minutes. For several years now, evening matches have also been played on the center court in Paris.
The 23-year-old Tsitsipas went out to 4-1 in the first set, but went on to win only one of the subsequent eleven games. With the necessary effort, Musetti eventually secured a win in the second set, after which Tsitsipas raised his level and made the global number 66 doubt with attacking tennis. The young Italian started to miss more and more, while the fighting mentality of the Greek came to the fore.
Last year, 20-year-old Musetti, who is considered by experts to be a future world champion, caused a stir by taking a 2-0 lead in sets against Novak Djokovic. In the remainder, he only took one game and then gave up when he trailed 4-0 in the fifth set. Djokovic eventually won the tournament by beating Tsitsipas in five sets in the final.
In the second round, Tsitsipas will face Czech Zdenek Kolar. The outsider for the title is on the other side of the schedule than Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz.