Stefanos Tsitsipas returned to La Caja Magica at the 2022 Madrid Open, sparking memories of the venue where he played the final in 2019.
The Greek player lost in that final in 2019 to Novak Djokovic, 3-6, 4-6, after previously stunning Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals and winning 6-4, 2-6, 6-3, but he will be eager to repeat that success at this ATP Masters 1000 event this year.
Lucas Pouille was his second-round opponent this year after a first-round BYE, and the Frenchman played well enough to push his opponent at times but not well enough to challenge him for a win.
Tsitsipas cruised in two sets to a simple win, 6-3, 6-4 to move into the third round at the event. The Greek player felt poetic after his victory, mentioning some "magic dust" that helped him to win the match.
"It was good magic, a fair amount of magic dust. A great start at the beginning of this tournament."
In his second-round match, the Greek played dropped only two first-serve points, firing seven aces in total. It speaks volumes about how well his tennis can work in Madrid due to the high-altitude conditions.
His clay record is also impeccable, but he admitted after the match that he doesn't think too much about his record or the conditions favoring him. He likes to stay in the present and focus on the task at hand.
"I don't really think about this stuff, to be honest with you. I've had good runs in the past. I've played well on this surface but every single day is a different challenge. Everyone wants to go out there and play the best they can against me, so I'm just going to try to play consistently as much as I can."
Next up for the fourth seed will be Grigor Dimitrov, whom he bested not long ago in Barcelona in two sets. He holds a 4-1 record overall against the Bulgarian, and the Greek player also has a 31-6 record on clay since the start of 2021.
However, he certainly needs to be aware of the fact that Dimitrov has played almost flawless tennis in Madrid this year, beating Maxime Cressy 6-2, 7-6(4), and the 13th-seeded clay-court specialist Diego Schwartzman 6-0, 6-3.
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