Stefanos Tsitsipas praises world No. 168 Maxime Cressy after US Open clash

Greek tennis superstar Stefanos Tsitsipas enjoyed playing at Arthur Ashe Stadium for the first time in his career and he put up a good performance to beat American Maxime Cressy 7-6 (2) 6-3 6-4 in the US Open second round. 

Tsitsipas, seeded at No. 4, beat rising American star Cressy in three sets to progress into the third round at the US Open for the first time in his career and set up a meeting against two-time ATP champion Borna Coric.

"My experience playing in Arthur Ashe for the first time was one of the best,” Tsitsipas said after beating Cressy. “It would be even better with fans, spectators coming to watch. But getting a first glance, a first taste of what it is playing in Ashe is great for me.”

Tsitsipas struggled on Cressy's serve 

Tsitsipas saved a set point on his serve in the 10th game of the first set, before he won the tie-break to win a tight opener. 

The Greek then claimed one break of serve in each of the following two sets and held on to his serve to earn a straight-set win over Cressy.

"I had a lot of difficulties returning his serve,” Tsitsipas said. “His game is very difficult to read. He has a very good serve-and-volley game. You don’t get to play against those players very often. You have to adjust."

Meanwhile, world No. 17 Denis Shapovalov recovered from a set down to beat world No. 73 Soonwoo Kwon 6-7 (5) 6-4 6-4 6-2. 

Shapovalov lost the first set tie-break despite being 5-2 up but then won the second set to make it all tied at one-set apiece. 

Kwon was 4-2 up in the third set before his game fell apart as Shapovalov dominated from that moment to set up a third round meeting against Taylor Fritz.

"Definitely an extremely tough match today," Shapovalov said on court after the match. "I was up in the tiebreak in the first set, didn’t go my way, and to bounce back in the second, it was really tough, so I’m really happy to get the win today."

After Shapovalov beat Kwon, the DJ in  in Louis Armstrong Stadium played the Canadian's rap release "Night Train."

"I actually appreciate you guys playing it after the match, that was pretty funny," Shapovalov said.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/32RARxY