Fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas has taken a convincing victory against Swedish tennis professional Mikael Ymer, winning in straight sets 6-4 6-1 6-2.
Silence filled the Melbourne Arena as the two faced each other on the hard court, footsteps echoing to the empty ceiling. The players were often pitted against each other as juniors, with Tsitsipas describing Ymer as “someone I’ve known since he was a baby.”
Strong serves by Tsitsipas showed early positive signs for the Greek. More experienced in a grand slam setting, Tsitsipas clearly had the advantage with regards to his strategic ball placement. Ymer rarely had a chance to try and gain a break point.
Meanwhile, Tsitsipas punished the Swede for every soft shot. The Greek had multiple opportunities for a break point early on, but Ymer managed to claim his points until his penultimate service game, where Tsitsipas blistered the balls and made it extremely difficult for the Swede. Tsitsipas took the first set 6-4.
Ymer came into the next set with some more intensity, finally using his strong forearm to his advantage. Despite pushing him to a deuce in Tsitsipas’ first service game, Ymer didn’t carry that strength into the following games.
The Greek managed to take two break points to clean up the second set 6-1.
While the Greek managed to take an immediate break point in the start of the third set, Ymer shocked Tsitsipas to take the following game and keep the two players at a level competition.
This didn’t last for long, however, with Tsitsipas getting back on his feet and claiming a return break point. The Greek continued this hot-streak to the end of the set, winning the match 6-4 6-1 6-2.
Compliments need to be given to the 5th seed player, who showed no signs of fault throughout the course of the match. The Greek kept calm and composed after every set win, treating every game as important as the last.
“I see every day as an opportunity to get closer to winning a slam,” Tsitsipas said in a post-match interview.
