Tsitsipas Chases Top 3 Return As He Sails to Quarterfinals in Madrid

Stefanos Tsitsipas secured a quarter-final appearance at the Madrid Open by beating Spain’s Bernabe Zapata Miralles in two simple sets.

This match could have been much more complicated than it ended up being. Bernabe Zapata Miralles was playing really well at this ATP Masters 1000 event, and he has the type of game that can trouble any player.

He’s super aggressive, he hits the ball well from both sides, and he doesn’t give up easily. He is just the perfect type of player to give any high seed some problems, but he didn’t do it this time.

Tsitsipas has been playing a lot of tennis on clay lately, and it’s showing. The Greek player has blossomed into one of the better clay players on the ATP Tour, and it was in full display in his match against Zapata Miralles after previously needing three sets against Sebastian Baez.

There was seemingly never a moment when the Greek's victory over Zapata Miralles would be in doubt, as he was that much better than his opponent. The opening set lasted only about 41 minutes, so it was relatively quick by clay standards, and Tsitsipas won it 6-3.

He was just too good. There were only 19 rallies on the Greek's serve, while on Zapata Miralles' serve, fans saw a total of 42 points, showing how much he struggled on his serve while his opponent cruised.

That’s how much Tsitsipas troubled his opponent, and Zapata Miralles couldn’t find anything in the second set either. Tsitsipas won the second set as well. He dominated, triumphing 6-1 in the second set after only 33 minutes.

Zapata Miralles won only six out of 20 rallies on his serve, which is abysmal as he won seven on his opponent's serve. He just couldn’t find a way to hold serve all day long. Tsitsipas moved on easily to the quarter-final, beating the Spaniard 6-3, 6-1.

In the next round, Tsitsipas will take on Jan-Lennard Struff. The German player beat last year's Roland Garros finalist Casper Ruud on clay this year.

The Greek player will also have a chance to fight for a spot in the Top 3 as Daniil Medvedev's loss on Tuesday gave him the chance to regain his career-high spot in the ATP Rankings again.