The 22-year-old was so focused on Court Philippe-Chatrier on Monday that he didn’t even bother to change his shirt when he was caked in clay after tumbling across the baseline during the third set. He just grabbed a towel, brushed off and went back to the business at hand.
His kit may have been clay-stained, but the first-strike game of the world No.6 was clean and efficient in his first ever meeting with Dimitrov.
Aggressive from the first ball, Tsitsipas won 77 of the 123 points that lasted four strokes or less, and he didn’t drop serve once over the course of the two hour and 26 minute contest with the Bulgarian.
“I knew that if I can be as aggressive as possible, play with my forehand, use my serve to create opportunities, they would eventually come,” Tsitsipas said on court after the match.
Dimitrov, seeded 18th, threatened to make a match of it but failed to convert two set points in the second-set tiebreaker, and provided little resistance against Tsitsipas in the third.
“The tiebreak was where all the money was,” Tsitsipas said. “I’m glad that I played good tennis and I didn’t panic. I stayed concentrated, stayed low-key and tried to take it point by point. I think it worked out pretty well at the end.”