Tsisipas, placed fourth in Paris, had four set points against in the tiebreak of the fourth set and was almost ready for a long five-setter, just like in the first round against the Italian Lorenzo Musetti. But he managed to get rid of the set points of the Czech number 134 of the world ranking and struck himself. The match lasted four hours and nine minutes.
Earlier in the day, Daniil Medvedev managed to secure a place in the last 32 in straight sets. The Russian beat Serbian Laslo Djere 6-3 6-4 6-3. Medvedev was broken three times on Court Philippe Chatrier, but he faced seven breaks.
Medvedev, the number 2 in the world, only managed to win a competition for the first time in Paris last year. He returned this year just before Roland Garros after a minor back surgery. During this edition he is still without a set loss.
In the third round, Medvedev will face the Serb Miomir Kecmanovic, the global number 31.
Andrej Rublev also reached the third round. The seventh-seeded Russian defeated Argentina’s Federico Delbonis in four sets: 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.