Stefanos Tsitsipas needed to be a hero on Sunday in Greece, but he wasn't, losing both matches to cost Greece the tie.
It's not only his fault, but he didn't do enough for his country to win. With his teammates being ranked much lower on the ATP Tour, he's basically the whole team, and he needs to be perfect every time for the country to win. Today wasn't the case as he first lost in the doubles together with his brother, Petros.
That match was always going to be the crucial one because even if he won the singles match, it would only be 2-2. It's doubtful that Greece would have won the final tie anyway. The match against Alex Molcan was brutal, though.
Over three hours, right after playing over two hours in the doubles, that fatigue ultimately cost him. He hasn't been playing very strong generally lately, as he barely won the first singles match, so this loss isn't a huge surprise. Molcan took the opening set in a very close tiebreak, 8-6, after wasting a break earlier in the set.
The second set was another competitive one as Tsitsipas jumped out to an early lead, but he gave it back not long after that. He kept pushing and pressing and ultimately wore down Molcan to take the second set 6-4. Molcan had chances late in that one but came up short.
The final set opened with an early break chance for Tsitsipas but he didn't convert it. Turns out that would be the only one he saw the entire match as his fatigue began to wear him down towards the end of the match.
Ultimately, he ran out of steam, and Molcan was able to take a break late and then finish it off. The final score was 7-6(6) 4-6 6-3 for Molcan as Slovakia won 3-1 in Greece.
0 Comments