Stefanos Tsitsipas lost 3-1 in straight sets to Finland’s Emil Rusuvuori
Stefanos Tsitsipas suffered an early exit from Wimbledon on Thursday night (4/7).
The Greek champion was the heavy favourite against Finland’s Emil Rusuvouri, ranked 87th in the world, but he was not up to the task, losing 3-1 in straight sets to crash out of the top Grand Slam at an early stage (round of 64).
After two sets that went to the tie-break, with Rusuvuori winning the final set 7-6 (6), 7-6 (10), Tsitsipas seemed to respond in the third set, closing the gap to 2-1 with a 6-3 win.
And while one might have expected the same reaction in the fourth set, it was the Finn who dominated. Leading 5-2, he ran out 6-3 winners in 2 hours and 47 minutes.
It is the first time in his career that Tsitsipas has been knocked out in the second round at Wimbledon, and for another season he will not be able to get past the fourth round, which is his best run to date.
The two sets lost in the tie-break played an important role in the match, especially the second, when the Greek champion double-faulted with a set point. He also seemed to lack energy in the fourth set compared to his performance in the previous one. Tsitsipas finished the match with 20 aces to Rusuvuori’s 7, won 67% of his first serves and 80% of the points, exactly the same percentage as his opponent. He also had 10 more winners (51-41) and 5 more double faults (38-33).
