At Roland Garros Giant feat: Matthew beats Stefanos Tsitsipas
Matteo Gigante, world number 167, accomplished a great feat by beating Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, number 20, in the second round of the men’s singles at Roland Garros, with a score of 6-4 5-7 6-2 6-4.
Gigante saves a break point in the fourth game of the first set, then instead he makes the break on 4-4, when he goes 15-40 on Tsitsipas’ serve and breaks him on the second chance and then closes the partial by holding serve at 15.
In the second set Tsitsipas from 1-1 flies 4-1 with a break in the fourth game but is counter-breached in the seventh and recovered at 4-4. At 5-5 at the end of a hard-fought game Tsitsipas holds the serve after nullifying three break points, including two consecutive ones, then at 6-5 he breaks Gigante on the second of two consecutive chances and evens the set count.
Matteo dominates the third set: he breaks immediately in the first game and then a second on 3-1, in four turnovers he surrenders only three points and pockets the partial at the second opportunity and then takes a break lead in the third game of the fourth set as well.
On 4-3 in his favor, the 23-year-old Roman saves his own serve in a crucial game, in which he cancels four break points. On 5-3 he misses a match point, or rather, it is Tsitsipas who cancels it with a backhand volley, and finally on 5-4 Matteo cancels four more break points, then goes to match point again, which this time is the good one.
The 23-year-old Roman player’s serve is not a match point.
Three hours and 8 minutes the duration of the match, which for Matteo marks a feat … Giant. In the third round, the Roman will have another very difficult task because he will meet U.S. Ben Shelton, world number 13, who did not play the second round due to the forfeit of Frenchman Hugo Gaston.
