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Erste Bank Open Wien: How much petrol is still in Stefanos Tsitsipas' tank?

With Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev , two frequent players top the seed list of the Erste Bank Open 2021. The Greek made an overplayed impression recently.

by Jens Huiber
last edit: Oct 20, 2021, 10:19 pm

Stefanos Tsitsipas played a lot of tennis this year
© Getty Images
Stefanos Tsitsipas played a lot of tennis this year

Stefanos Tsitsipas and the tournaments of the 500 series on the ATP tour, that was not a love story so far. This year alone there were two narrow bankruptcies in the finals in Barcelona (against Rafael Nadal) and Acapulco (against Alexander Zverev), before that there were five 500 finals in which Tsitsipas lost out. Is there a major trend reversal in Vienna? In any case, the Erste Bank Open 2021 is the last chance in the current season that Stefanos Tsitsipas will write in the last category he is missing.

The question, however, is: does the Greek still have the strength for a big coup? Tsitsipas has played 70 matches this year, won 54 of them. In the 16 defeats there were also some who still bothered Tsitsipas in retrospect: for example the one against Hubert Hurkacz in Miami, of course losing the two-set lead in the final of Roland Garros against Novak Djokovic, also the end against Carlos Alcaraz the US Open hurt. In Indian Wells it was over against Nikoloz Basilashvili - which was also due to a creamy day for the Georgian.

Tsitsipas stretches the rules

In Vienna, Stefanos Tsitsipas is the tournament favorite in the race, it can be assumed that he will fight for his eighth career title exclusively on the Center Court in the town hall. The new gem at the Heumarkt does not have to do without Tsitsipas, however, as the Athenian will take part in a tie-break tournament on Friday evening. Anyone who has observed Tsitsipas over the years knows that he will also take this mission extremely seriously.
What might also be an observation of the last few months: Tsitsipas goes about his craft in an incredibly professional manner, and every now and then the impression arises that the fun of tennis is a little neglected. Even if Tsitsipas himself denies that at every opportunity.

What has also become less: the affection of the fans. Stefanos Tsitsipas can also attribute this to himself. He is not the only player on the ATP tour who has often exploited the fuzzy rules of the ATP when it comes to toilet breaks. But he's just the most prominent.

Zverev in better shape

What also happened to Alexander Zverev angry. At the US Open, the two did not meet on the court, but friendships were constantly exchanged at the respective press conferences. The waves between the two exceptional players should have smoothed out again at the Laver Cup in Boston, in Vienna there could only be the duel between Tsitsipas and Zverev in the final.

The German made a better impression than Tsitsipas in Indian Wells recently, the loss to Taylor Fritz fell into the “extremely unnecessary” category. In his season, which was crowned by the Olympic victory in Tokyo, Zverev also has a small advantage over his Greek rival in terms of burden: the native of Hamburg, number two in Vienna, has played ten games fewer than Tsitsipas.

by Jens Huiber

Thursday
Oct 21, 2021, 09:55 am
last edit: Oct 20, 2021, 10:19 pm