Stefanos Tsitsipas, 5th in the world, qualified Sunday for the second round of Roland-Garros but he was hot against the Czech returnee Jiri Vesely (455th) whom he finally dismissed 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7).
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"It's been pretty stressful. But I said to myself +no chance we will go to the fifth set +", admitted the 24-year-old Greek who had to save four set balls in the tie-break of the fourth set before concluding on his first match ball.
"I'm not going to lie, he gave me a lot of difficulty. This victory is very important for me," he added.
The finalist of the 2021 edition, who is one of the main outsiders of a private tournament of Rafael Nadal, will face in the next round the Spaniard Roberto Carballes (57th) or the American Emilio Nava (242nd and from qualifying).
Against Vesely, who was still ranked 66th last August but dropped in the rankings due to a hamstring injury, Tsitsipas was hooked in the first set where he was broken to lead 3-1.
The 29-year-old Czech, who has not played on the main circuit since last year's US Open and has played just two Challenger tournaments since returning to competition last month, served for the 5-4 set win, but Tsitsipas went on three games, including two breaks, to win the set.
He then dominated the second set but conceded the only break in the third to give Vesely hope again.
The latter then held off the Greek in the fourth set and got four set balls in the tie-break including three consecutive at 6/3, but without managing to achieve any.
