NEW YORK: Greece player Stefanos Tsitsipas progressed to the next round after beating Milos Raonic in straight sets 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 in the US Open on Tuesday. Tsitsipas had suffered a crushing defeat in his opening match at Louis Armstrong Stadium the previous year, but he won the match with ease on Tuesday.
Despite Raonic's excellent record against Tsitsipas, with a 2-0 lead in their head-to-head meetings, Tsitsipas controlled the encounter. Tsitsipas limited Raonic to only eight aces and forced him to commit numerous errors.
The former Nitto ATP Finals champion dropped only five games in the first two sets and replied with back-to-back breaks in the third after Raonic took a 4-2 lead. The 25-year-old two-time major finalist held Raonic to just eight aces and played a clean match.
“It was fun to play high-quality tennis against a champion like Milos, he’s dealing with a comeback and I knew he had nothing to lose. I had to bring my A-game from the very first point. I made it physical and it worked,” Tsitsipas said after the match, according to atptour.com.
Tsitsipas will next face the winner of the match between Dominic Stricker and Alexei Popyrin.