Stefanos Tsitsipas struggled greatly against Dominic Stricker at the 2023 US Open but still served for the match, only to lose it in a heartbreaking fashion.
The Greek player has built up a reputation of being quite vulnerable to players who can push him around on the court. Not being the greatest of returners certainly doesn't add anything to the equation, and Stricker's skillset combined those two problem areas.
The Swiss player loves to attack and does it quite well if his serve is working, and it did for parts of this match. Stricker had five aces and 19 winners overall in the opening set, which he ultimately won 7-5, putting pressure on Tsitsipas, who overcame Milos Raonic in the first round.
The Greek responded well, but it took a lot out of him as he had to endure a long set against the Swiss player. It was in the tiebreak and mostly came because his serve worked well. Stricker missed too much in the second set, contributing to the result.
The 3rd set saw Tsitsipas jump out to an early lead, but he wouldn't hold it as Strickker battled back. Neither player jumped out ahead after that with another tiebreak, giving Tsitsipas the 2-1 lead. Stricker had chances in that one, but a volley into the net at 6-5 sealed it.
The final set saw Stricker jump out to an early lead, and it looked like we were heading to a 5th set. Tstisipas stepped up and broke his opponent to level the score and then added another break later on as Stricker misfired far too often.
At 5-3, Tsitsipas serve for the match but got broken to further extend the match. It proved costly when Stricker won the tiebreak and forced a 5th set. The final set saw Tsitsipas once again give his opponent chances, and he was punished as Stricker took them. He was up 4-1 with a chance to oust the 7th seed.
He ultimately did, as the final score was 7-5 6-7(2) 6-7(5) 7-6(6) 6-3 in over four hours. Stricker blasted 78 winners in this one.
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