Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas in action against Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena during their quarterfinal match of the Estoril Open Tennis tournament in Cascais, near Lisbon, Portugal, 04 May 2018. EPA-EFE/JOSE SENA GOULAO
By Ricky Dimon
It hasn’t happened yet, but fatigue has to be setting in for Stefanos Tsitsipas. How good has he been of late? Well, no one other than Rafael Nadal and David Goffin has been able to stop him during this clay-court swing.
Coming off a runner-up finish in Barcelona (to…you guessed it…Nadal), Tsitsipas survived a second straight three-setter at the Estoril Open on Friday. The 19-year-old recovered from a set deficit, battled back from a break down in the third, and trailed 3-0 in final-set tiebreaker before overcoming Quito champion Roberto Carballes Baena 6-7(2), 6-2, 7-6(3) in two hours and 37 minutes.
Tsitsipas, who qualified in Monte-Carlo and defeated Denis Shapovalov before bowing out against Goffin 7-6(4), 7-5, is 11-2 in 13 clay-court matches this season–including especially impressive dirt victories over Dominic Thiem, Pablo Carreno Busta, Diego Schwartzman, Albert Ramos-Vinolas, and Estoril No. 1 seed Kevin Anderson.
After scraping past Anderson 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-3 in two hours and 12 minutes on Thursday, it looked like Tsitsipas would finally give out against Carballes Baena. But an amazing lunging volley for a winner at 3-3 in the the third-set ‘breaker helped him successfully get across the finish line.
Ricky’s picks for Saturday in Estoril, Munich, and Istanbul:
Munich
Zverev over Chung in 3 – Chung leads the head-to-head series 2-0, but Zverev is at home in Germany and won this event last year. Go with the home cooking!
Kohlschreiber over Marterer in 2 – Kohlschreiber is 32-10 for his career in Munich with five final appearances and three titles. He made quick work of Roberto Bautista Agut on Friday. More home cooking!
Estoril
Sousa over Tsitsipas in 3 – With so many matches behind him and Madrid ahead of him, this may be where Tsitsipas runs out of gas–against a crowd favorite who will make him play long points. The Portuguese fans will get what they want.
Carreno Busta over Tiafoe in 2 – Tiafoe’s clay-court form is encouraging for the future, but Carreno Busta is a whole different beast from what the American has faced so far on the slow stuff.
Istanbul
Chardy over Daniel in 3 – A semifinal run in Istanbul? Damn, Daniel! But going all the way to the final may be too much to ask.
Jaziri over Djere in 2 – Depending on how your pronounce “Djere,” their names may sounds the exact same. But their games are not. Jaziri has been red hot of late and Djere has to be fatigued following so many tough matches.