French Open 2023: Tsitsipas gets through 1st round with difficulty against Vesely

Well, that's the way it is for the best. At the beginning of a tournament, you're a bit tense, maybe a bit cramped. It's important that your game runs smoothly right from the start, otherwise it's difficult to get into the tournament and play with confidence. That was perhaps the problem of Stefanos Tsitsipas today, who partly despaired of his opponent and himself. Actually, everything is clear on paper, at least it seems so: the world number 5, Stefanos Tsitsipas from Greece, will meet the world number 455, Jiri Vesely from the Czech Republic, in the first round of the French Open 2023. Actually a clear thing, if the actually chance-less would not show himself so unruly. Did Tsitsipas take the match lightly and was surprised? You could see that Tsitsipas was slightly tense from the start. Was he tensing up. Vesely, of course, had nothing to lose. He could play without tension, he could only win. That is the disadvantage of being a clear favorite. Everyone expects you to win clearly, and what if it doesn't work out that way. Already the first set was tough. But Tsitsipas managed to win the set 7:5. The second set showed a clear relaxation on the part of Tsitsipas, who quickly decided the set in his favor with strong serves. Vesely, for his part, played a stable baseline game with winners. To Tsitsipas' surprise, he managed to win the set thanks to his consistent performance. That was a small exclamation mark. Now Vesely sensed a chance. Accordingly, the fourth set was tough and even. If Vesely could win that one as well, he could win the fifth set and the match. This was an important psychological moment. Tsitsipas now had to give it his all if he wanted to avoid an unexpected defeat. At 6:6, the match went into a tie-break, in which the Czech really held his own and was even in the lead at 6:5. At 7:8, the Greek player took a strong winner and won the set and the match with 7:9 in the tie-break of the fourth set. That was really close. One would have even wished Vesely a fifth set.