Tsitsipas Makes Strong Start In Hamburg

Stefanos Tsitsipas played with great focus to beat Daniel Evans 6-3, 6-1 in 59 minutes on Wednesday at the Hamburg European Open. The second seed, who now plays Pablo Cuevas in the second round, hit 17 of his 24 winners off the forehand wing and won 14 of 19 points at the net.

“It’s very satisfying to be playing that level of tennis, as I’ve missed playing on clay,” said Tsitsipas, in an on-court interview. “It helps for my confidence. I’ve watched this tournament on TV since I was very young and I’m delighted to have gotten off to a strong start.”

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Tsitsipas turned defence into attack to force a forehand error from Evans for a 3-1 advantage in the 29-minute first set, which the Greek closed out to love with a forehand volley winner.

Evans was continually pushed deep behind the baseline at the AM Rothenbaum and couldn’t replicate the kind of form that helped him beat Tsitsipas at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in February.

Tsitsipas broke the Briton in the third game of the second set, with a deep forehand return and forehand approach combination. The World No. 6 was later the recipient of backhand slice errors from Evans when leading 3-1 and 5-1.

Elsewhere, Cristian Garin became the first player to reach the Hamburg quarter-finals after he defeated Gael Monfils’ conqueror, wild card Yannick Hanfmann, 6-2, 7-6(3). Garin led 5-2 in the second set, only to see Hanfmann serve for the set at 6-5 and then lead 3/1 in the tie-break.