Stefanos Tsitsipas won the match of two former Grand Slam finalists, beating Milos Raonic in three sets at the 2023 US Open.
Facing a former world no. 3 on the ATP Tour, and a player that made it to the Grand Slam final never seemed as an easy task for the Greek. Moreover, the Canadian played some solid tennis on home soil, despite later withdrawing from the 2023 Cincinnati Masters.
On the other hand, Tsitsipas' form has been far from ideal, but the Greek player was still favoured, especially because this was only Raonic's eighth match since he returned to competing on the ATP Tour in June this year.
Throughout the match, the world no. 7 managed to limit his opponent's serve, but at the same time, Raonic couldn't hit it as precisely as he used to, hitting only eight aces, and committing the same amount of doubles faults during the match.
Because of that, even two break points in the first set were not enough, especially after they remained unused. On the other hand, Tsitsipas used two of his three chances, and thanks to that, he was able to win the first set 6-2.
In the second set, the Greek player didn't allow his opponent to have break points, and this time it was once again another step forward for the younger player, who broke in the eighth game and won the second set 6-3.
The third set was looking good for Raonic, who led 4-2 after breaking Tsitsipas's serve. But he couldn't hold his advantage for a very long time, and on top of that, he just couldn't win any more games in the match.
Because of that, Tsitsipas was able to overcome a difficult first-round test, beating Raonic 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the second round of the 2023 US Open.
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