French Open: 'I saw a difference today' - Stefanos Tsitsipas crushes Mikael Ymer to power into fourth round

ByAlex Livie

Updated 28/05/2022 at 17:21 GMT

After struggling in his first couple of matches, Stefanos Tsitsipas found his stride at the French Open. He proved much too strong for Mikael Ymer to book his place in the fourth round at Roland-Garros. The Greek's groundstrokes were back to the usual high standard. Stream the 2022 French Open live and on-demand on discovery+.

Stefanos Tsitsipas announced himself at the French Open with an impressive 6-2 6-2 6-1 victory over Mikael Ymer to reach the fourth round.

The Greek came close to crashing out in the first round before advancing in five sets, and he was pushed to the limit in round two by Zdenek Kolar.

Tsitsipas’ body language were the key takeaways from his first two rounds.

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Against, Lorenzo Musetti he fought a personal battle, constantly screaming at himself and winding up the crowd. It was the complete opposite against Kolar, as he kept his cool and even got the spectators on his side by interacting with them and asking for support.

Against Ymer on Court Suzanne-Lenglen, Tsitsipas’ tennis did the talking.

Tsitsipas felt his game benefited from playing in warm, sunny conditions for the first time in the tournament.

“A lot of good rallies from my side,” Tsitsipas said. “It was a good game from myself.

“I think I played really well and topped it off with some patient tennis.

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“I played a bit late in both matches, there was not much sun. The condition seemed colder.

“I saw a difference today to the other days. I felt much more free with my ball, I was able to create more fine angles and push a lot.

“It helped a lot mentally being aware of the next shot and the confidence of the deep shot.”

His serve was rock solid and his groundstrokes on impressive. There have been concerns expressed over Tsitsipas’ backhand, but against the Swede he found spin, pace and depth on his weaker wing.

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In truth, Tsitsipas was a step above Ymer in terms of class - but that could be argued was the case in the opening two rounds.

But on this occasion, Tsitsipas got in front early and controlled the contest. The warm Paris sunshine did not help Ymer, as it allowed his opponent to impart huge amounts of spin on the ball.

After being firmly second best in the first two sets, Ymer went off court to freshen up and reset. It did not help, as he surrendered his serve meekly in the first game of the third set.

In total control, Tsitsipas used the third as a practice ground. He tested his serve-and-volley skills for likely tougher battles ahead - and he powered through to complete the win in an hour and 32 minutes.

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Stream the 2022 French Open live and on-demand on discovery+.

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