French Open 2020: Tsitsipas, Rublev, Shapovalov - the ex-NextGen shows bite
Stefanos Tsitsipas , Andrey Rublev and Denis Shapovalov no longer belong to the very young generation of the ATP Tour. On Tuesday, all three won rousing games - one of which was actually quite on the brink.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Sep 30, 2020, 12:23 am
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Denis Shapovalov have recently lost matches that they could have won (Tsitsipas in Hamburg against Andrey Rublev, Shapovalov in Rome against Diego Schwartzman), or even should have won (Tsitsipas at the US Open against Borna Coric). These bankruptcies were “unusual”, said Tsitsipas after his five-set win against Jaume Munar on Tuesday, after he had made up a two-set deficit for the first time in his career. He wanted to learn from these defeats, and at the start of the 2020 French Open, he managed to do this reasonably well.
Like Denis Shapovalov, who was able to assert himself against Gilles Simon in four sets, Tsitsipas did not have to seriously deal with the idea of saying goodbye to the 2020 French Open in round one, despite the large deficit. Just like Daniil Medvedev less than 24 hours earlier on the same court against Marton Fuscovics. The start was actually easy for the reigning ATP world champion, Tsitsipas led with a break. After that, Munar also benefited from his opponent's impatience. At some point he asked himself why he had risked so much, Tsitsipas said in his press conference. And found the right solution for yourself.
Rublev - "I was so lucky"
Andrey Rublev, on the other hand, could have thought back to Sunday in Hamburg in a certain situation: When his opponent Sam Querrey served the match at 5-3 in the third set. Rublev took the last possible exit, but turned onto Siegerstrasse. And stated that he was more nervous than ever. Barely able to move quickly across the court from the first rally. “I was just so lucky today. It's like I've got an extra gift. "
However, it can be said that only two days after they gave everything in Hamburg to the last point, Tsitsipas and Rublev are in round two of the French Open. With solvable tasks: Tsitsipas can play against Pablo Cuevas again, Rublev against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Shapovalov could face Tsitsipas in the round of 16
Denis Shapovalov only gave himself four sentences with Simon. The climax of the excitement was probably a minute-long discussion between the French and chair referee Marijana Veljovic, who found a ball from the Canadian to be good. Interestingly, however, stated that she did see a small space between the ball print and the line. It is not surprising that Simon couldn't live with it. This situation would certainly have been interesting to watch in front of 15,000 French spectators in the stands of the Court Philippe-Chatrier.
veljovic
Shapovalov can now also compete with a Spaniard, Roberto Carballes Baena is waiting for the left-hander, since last Monday member of the top ten of the ATP world rankings for the first time. The three former #NextGen stars in the tableau are not far away: Shapovalov could meet Tsitsipas in the round of 16, should Rublev reach the quarter-finals, he would be ready for the winner of this matchup.
Here is the men's single tableau
rg2020