Stefanos Tsitsipas didn't start well against Jan Lennard Struff at the 2024 Italian Open, but he came back to win the match.
Tsitsipas and Struff were an interesting matchup on paper because the German player has played huge tennis lately, and the Greek is certainly a player he can beat with the right kind of approach.
He started really well in this match. The opening set was a very close affair, and it was actually a really interesting tease of how the rest of the match would go.
Struff took an early break, which wasn't that surprising. He's been playing really well on clay this year once more, and Tstisipas is a fairly beatable player with the right approach.
He didn't hold that advantage, though, as the Greek managed to break back. Unsurprisingly, the set ended up in a tie-break, and it wasn't very interesting. Struff quickly jumped out to a 5-1 lead and then closed it out, winning the tie-break 7-1.
Tsitsipas's conclusion to the set was quite shocking, but he stepped up in the second set. What worked for him in the second set was just the fact that he was playing a really superb set of tennis.
Both of them were better in the second set compared to the first, which was a bit shaky from both, but Tsitsipas was better. He created more chances and used them more precisely compared to Struff.
The final set was a fierce battle. Tsitsipas took an early break, but Struff pulled it back. Tsitsipas would then break once more later and hold this time around.
Struff once again had break points to make it a tied match, but Tsitsipas held his nerve in that game and later on to finish off the comeback win. The final score was 6-7(1), 6-4, 6-4.
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