Tennis • Tsitsipas Finally Beats Felix! • Roger Federer vs. Goffin And Djokovic vs. Isner On Thursday In Shanghai

By Ricky Dimon

Stefanos Tsitsipas finally got over the hump after trailing his head-to-head series against Felix Auger-Aliassime 5-0.

Tsitsipas, who was 0-2 against the Canadian in the pros and 0-3 in the juniors, got the job done 7-6(3), 7-6(3) in round two of the Rolex Shanghai Masters on Wednesday afternoon. The 21-year-old Greek served at 75 percent and withstood 11 aces off his opponent’s racket to prevail in two hours and two minutes.

“I knew it’s going to be tough, and it was very tough,” Tsitsipas said. “I think, mostly, the concentration that I have put and the work that I have put into that match, I still felt like I had to put a lot in order to get that outcome at the end.”

The world No. 7 owns three career ATP titles but is seeking his first at something higher than the 250-point level.

“I know that in order to see my name among the [big] titles, I’m going to have to go through a lot of pain and a lot of hype and struggle,” he explained. “I’m honestly excited. I’m excited. I’m excited by the idea of trying to get there.”

Tsitsipas could potentially have to go through both Novak Djokovic in the quarters and Roger Federer in the final later this week in Shanghai. Djokovic defeated Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 6-3 on Wednesday, while Federer won his opener on Tuesday via a 6-2, 7-6(5) decision against Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

Djokovic and Federer will face familiar foes on Thursday in John Isner and David Goffin, respectively.

Draw
Novak Djokovic…..bye…..d. Shapovalov
John Isner…..d. de Minaur…..d. Pouille

Hubert Hurkacz…..d. Zhang…..d. Monfils
Stefanos Tsitsias……bye…..d. Auger-Aliassime

Daniil Medvedev…..bye…..d. Norrie
Vasek Pospisil…..d. Schwartzman…..d. Sousa

Fabio Fognini…..d. Querrey…..d. Murray
Karen Khachanov…..bye…..d. Fritz

Roberto Bautista Agut…..bye…..d. Opelka
Matteo Berrettini…..d. Struff…..d. Garin

Nikoloz Basilashvili…..d. Albot…..d. Paire
Dominic Thiem…..bye…..d. Carreno Busta

Alexander Zverev…..bye…..d. Chardy
Andrey Rublev…..d. Coric…..d. Millman

David Goffin…..d. Gasquet…..d. Kukushkin
Roger Federer…..bye…..d. Ramos-Vinolas

Seeds
1. Novak Djokovic: vs. Isner in R3
2. Roger Federer: vs. Goffin in R3
3. Daniil Medvedev: vs. Pospisil in R34. Dominic Thiem: vs. Basilashvili in R35. Alexander Zverev: vs. Rublev in R3
6. Stefanos Tsitsipas: vs. Hurkacz in R3
7. Karen Khachanov: vs. Fognini in R3
8. Roberto Bautista Agut: vs. Berrettini in R39. Gael Monfils: l. to Hurkacz in R210. Fabio Fognini: vs. Khachanov in R311. Matteo Berrettini: vs. Bautista Agut in R3
12. Borna Coric: l. to Rublev in R1
13. David Goffin: vs. Federer in R3
14. Diego Schwartzman: l. to Pospisil in R115. Nikoloz Basilashvili: vs. Thiem in R3
16. John Isner: vs. Djokovic in R3

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.