(Tennis news) First-round opponent for Tsitsipas was Milos Raonic, a fellow Grand Slam finalist. First to encounter difficulty was the Greek, who had to save a few break points early in the first set. Then, though, it was smooth sailing for him when he overcame that challenge.

In order to win the opening set, Tsitsipas then twice broke Raonic’s serve. A single service break in favour of the Greek was all he needed to win the second set, which was also quite straightforward.

When Raonic broke to go 4-2 up in the sixth game of the third set, it appeared as though he was about to turn the match into a match. Tsitsipas won the match 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 by winning the following four games in a row, though.

Stricker was paired up with Alexei Popyrin in the opening round after making it through the qualifying rounds. Similar to how he won the previous two sets, the Swiss teenager won the opening two sets by getting early serve breaks and maintaining his lead.

Popyrin stepped up his game and won the third set to keep himself in the running. In the fourth set, Stricker sailed to a 5-0 lead before dropping the next three games to go into danger. He was able to gather himself in time to finish the match with a victory of 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

Head-to-Head

In this matchup, Tsitsipas and Stricker are ahead 1-0. At the Stuttgart 2022 Boss Open, he defeated them once in straight sets.

Predictions

To defeat Popyrin and win his first match at the US Open, Stricker displayed strong play. He blasted 49 winners, far more than the 29 unforced errors he made, and won 80% of his first serve points.

Raonic presented a difficult opponent for Tsitsipas, but he was in the zone from the get-go. The Greek did a good job of denying his opponent’s serve, winning 44% of the return points.

In the previous round, Stricker displayed some shrewd attacking tennis. He might make things difficult for Tsitsipas if he keeps up his current level of shotmaking. The 21-year-old is still getting comfortable on the tour, though.

Stricker has only triumphed in 15 main draw matches overall while Tsitsipas has won more than twice as many matches just this year. Given his previous success at this level, the Greek should be able to defeat his younger opponent and move on.

Stefanos Tsitsipas to win in 3 sets

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