Tsitsipas wins 'two battles' to beat Carballes Baena in Paris opener

Stefanos Tsitsipas showed he is ready to dig deep in his pursuit of a Nitto ATP Finals spot on Monday evening at the Rolex Paris Masters.

The Greek shook off a difficult start to overcome Roberto Carballes Baena 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 and book his second-round berth at the indoor ATP Masters 1000. Tsitsipas hit 36 winners to Carballes Baena’s 15 to secure a one-hour, 59-minute triumph and advance to face Alejandro Tabilo.

“I didn’t start so well. I had an upset stomach and wasn’t feeling so great on the court,” said Tsitsipas, who has reached the semi-finals in Paris in each of the past two years. “I couldn’t even pump myself up at the beginning of the match, because when something is bothering you that much, it takes your entire concentration and focus. That was perhaps the second battle I was facing today, along with my opponent.”

The 26-year-old Tsitsipas is 12th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin. He is chasing a sixth consecutive Nitto ATP Finals appearance, but will require a deep run in Paris if he is to stay in contention for a spot at the prestigious season finale this year.

Fellow Turin hopeful Tommy Paul did not enjoy similar success on Day 1 in Paris, falling 6-3, 7-5 to French veteran Adrian Mannarino in a result that ended the 11th seed’s hopes of making his Turin debut.

“It’s going to take a lot for me to qualify, so if I manage to up my tennis during this entire week, let’s see," said Tsitsipas, who is currently 705 points shy of eighth-placed Andrey Rublev in the Live Race. "If I’m able to deliver something good here, I guess that also earns me a spot in Turin. Regardless of that. I’m just trying to improve and feel my game the best I can.”

Carballes Baena broke in the fifth game of the match and then fended off two break points in the 10th game before sealing the opening set. The Spaniard, who was chasing his first Lexus ATP Head2Head victory against Tsitsipas at the fourth attempt, then reclaimed an early break in the second set as he looked to spring an upset. Yet he was unable to maintain his momentum.

The 11-time tour-level titlist Tsitsipas immediately broke his opponent’s serve for 3-1 and had no troubles holding firm behind his delivery from there en route to levelling the match. He then bookended the deciding set with further breaks of Carballes Baena’s serve, which proved enough for him to complete his 100th ATP Masters 1000 main-draw victory and book a second-round meeting with Tabilo, who later downed Nuno Borges 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-3.

⭐️ Bringing up a century in style ⭐️
@steftsitsipas digs deep to record his 1⃣0⃣0⃣th ATP Masters 1000 match win!
#RolexParisMasters | @RolexPMasters pic.twitter.com/vaFs6VTGTT

After finishing the match having won 80 per cent (36/45) of points behind his first delivery, according to Infosys ATP Stats, Tsitsipas acknowledged that an improvement in his physical state as the match wore on had been key to turning it around.

“It took a long time for me to feel better," reflected the World No. 11. "It was very strange. It doesn’t happen very often. I just had to feel better, because I knew I was playing good tennis. I didn’t have a great start, but there were so many things on my mind at that moment, I wasn’t able to play clearly and with a good picture.

“Eventually I found the tennis that I wanted. It took a while to get to that point, but I knew that if I got to the point of feeling my game and aligning with my shots, it perhaps would have been enough to win that match. He wasn’t giving me much. I knew that he was going to fight but I knew I had some weapons that could hurt him a lot and I used those towards the end.”

Looking to end a largely disappointing season on a positive note, Mannarino claimed five service breaks against Paul, who won just 33 per cent of second-serve points.

The 36-year-old began the year strongly with a run to the fourth round of the Australian Open after a five-set win over Ben Shelton, but he had just 13 match wins on the season coming into Paris.

Mannarino next faces the winner of Belgian lucky loser Zizou Bergs and fellow French veteran Richard Gasquet, who is making his final appearance the Rolex Paris Masters.

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