Stefanos Tsitsipas was looking really sharp in Antwerp, but the Greek player was stunned by French rising star Arthur Fils in the semi-finals of the 2023 European Open.
Fils has slowly progressed from a promising player last year to a really solid young player this year. It's been an interesting development, somewhat faster than some would have assumed and he's now in an ATP Finals.
It comes after a pretty big win over Stefanos Tsitsipas who is seemingly struggling to find his top level. He admitted recently that he's been practising like never before, and we saw an improvement from him this week, but today wasn't a very good match.
He had his chances but simply didn't use it as opposed to his opponent. The opening set was a very close one, finishing up in a tiebreak, but both players had chances before that.
Tsitsipas had break points in two different games but simply couldn't convert either of those. Much of that had to do with the brave play of Fils, who was sensational from the baseline.
Both were actually pretty decent, but Fils was amazing with 17 winners and one unforced error, which was enough to get it done 7-5 in the tiebreak. The second set came easier for Fils as Tsitsipas faltered a bit after the opening set while Fils kept going.
Tsitsipas was still pretty solid overall, but he simply failed to create the big winner when he needed it. Fils still outhit him, which allowed him to convert his chances. Tsitsipas's only good moment came late in the second set when he broke Fils for the first time to extend the match a bit longer.
Ultimately, it didn't matter much because he lost in the tiebreak instead of 6-4. The final score was 7-6(5) 7-6(4) for Fils, who will face Alexander Bublik in the final tomorrow.
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