Third seed, Stefanos Tsitsipas, got his Tokyo Olympics campaign underway on Sunday with a hard-fought 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory over German Philipp Kohlschreiber.
The Greek, who was making his Olympic debut, had to battle back from a break down in the third set to advance to the second round in one hour and 54 minutes.
Tsitsipas won 75 per cent (43/57) of his first-service points to set up a meeting with Frances Tiafoe after the American downed Soonwoo Kwon of South Korea 6-3, 6-2.
The win came after Tsitsipas reached the first Grand Slam final of his career in June at Roland Garros, but failed just short to the World Number One, Novak Djokovic.
READ MORE: ‘I hope to be back next year’: Stefanos Tsitsipas loses to Djokovic in French Open final.
After the final, Tsitsipas announced his beloved grandmother passed away just five minutes before the start of the match.
In an emotional farewell to his grandmother, who died in her village near Karditsa, central Greece, Tsitsipas wrote: “A wise woman whose faith in life, and willingness to give and provide, can’t be compared to any other human being that I have ever met.”
READ MORE: Grieving Stefanos Tsitsipas pulls out of Wimbledon warm-up in Halle.
