ATP Masters Miami: Stefanos Tsitsipas - The slice alone will not do the trick
Stefanos Tsitsipas has to face Karen Khachanov in the round of 16 at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Miami today. The Greek is currently showing even more weaknesses than usual on the backhand side.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Mar 28, 2023, 02:45 pm
A few weeks ago in Rotterdam, Grigor Dimitrov had a brilliant idea. Before the semi-final against Daniil Medvedev, Dimitrov knew he wouldn't be able to send his Russian opponent off the field. So he tried to slice Medvedev to a playful death. Well, the result is known: the 2021 US Open champion dug up one ball after the other, frustrating Dimitrov more and more as the match progressed. And not only won the game, but also the tournament.
In the recent past, Stefanos Tsitsipas has often played Rotterdam's Dimitrov: instead of hitting the backhand, the Greek resorted to the undercut ball surprisingly often. Most likely because Tsitsipas has a right shoulder. Possibly also because he considers the slice to be a tried and tested means of surviving on the hard courts of Indian Wells (very slowly) and Miami (only moderately slowly).
Tsitsipas with a good record against Khachanov
However, this approach failed in Tennis Paradise in the first appearance against Jordan Thompson, on Monday in Miami Tsitsipas beat Cristian Garin, but certainly not because the Chilean didn't know what to do with the armada of slice balls. No: serve, forehand, legs, this triumvirate has allowed the number two of the tournament to survive in the Miami grid. The backhand is and remains the big Achilles' heel (compared to Matteo Berrettini, of course, only a medium-sized one...).
So you can assume that Karen Khachanov will massage this backhand properly in today's round of 16 match. Tsitsipas' 6-0 record against the Russian shouldn't be taken as a benchmark, the most recent meeting in the semifinals at the Australian Open 2023 could have gone in the direction of Khachanov. But Stefanos Tsitsipas just won in four sentences.
If the slice for Tsitsipas not only bites against Khachanov, but also in a potential quarter-final against either Lorenzo Sonego or Francisco Cerundolo like never before, then the semi-finals would probably be the test that Grigor Dimitrov failed in Rotterdam. Namely a meeting with Daniil Medvedev.
Here is the individual tableau in Miami
miamimap