Tsitsipas Beats Lajovic To Reach Hamburg SFs

Stefanos Tsitsipas recorded his second straight win over Dusan Lajovic on Friday for a place in the Hamburg European Open semi-finals. The second seed recovered from 3/5 down in the first set tie-break en route to a 7-6(5), 6-2 victory in one hour and 38 minutes.

"It was a perfect day, sunny, good people, good atmosphere and good clay,” said Tsitsipas, in an on-court interview. "Dusan is a difficult opponent to play on clay, with a lot of spin and variation in his shots. I think I had to do something extra for the victory today. I will keep working hard.”

The 22-year-old Greek, who captured the fifth ATP Tour title of his career in February at the Open 13 Provence (d. Auger-Aliassime), will now face Cristian Garin or lucky loser Alexander Bublik on Saturday.

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In a high-quality and entertaining first set, which saw Tsitsipas save three break points — one in the fifth game and two in the seventh game — it was Lajovic who took a 5/3 lead in the tie-break, only to see his Greek opponent win four straight points, courtesy of excellent footwork, to complete the 57-minute opener.

There were three straight service breaks at the start of the second set, which shifted in Tsitsipas’ favour at 1-3, when he hit a forehand approach winner to break. While Tsitsipas missed out on two match points on Lajovic’s serve at 5-1, the World No. 6 made sure at the third time of asking for his 21st win in 29 matches this year.

from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/330tJk4