With 39 first serves in a row, Tsitsipas edges out resurgent Thiem to reach Madrid third round

Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, the No 4 seed, edged out Austrian wildcard Dominic Thiem 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (5) to move into the third round of the Madrid Masters at the Caja Magica on Saturday.

Thiem took his only chance on the Tsitsipas serve in the first set but the Greek then produced a stunning spell of serving – 39 straight first serves in – as he won the second set and poured the pressure on the Austrian in the third.

The former US Open champion fought hard as Tsitsipas pushed for the break and managed to take it to a tiebreak but the Greek held on, winning the deciding tiebreak 7-5.

Tsitsipas: ‘Your best yet’

At the end, the pair exchanged some nice words at the net, with Thiem congratulating his conqueror, and Tsitsipas reassuring his opponent that his performance had been his best since returning from injury.

“Your best yet,” said the Greek. “You still have it. You’ve got this. Keep going.”

Tsitsipas, ranked No 5, will face Argentinian Sebastian Baez, the No 25 seed, next.

Thiem, ranked No 93, won against Kyle Edmund (6-4, 6-1) in the previous round of the Madrid tournament.

Madrid Masters, other second-round results (Caja Magica, clay, EUR 7.705.780, most recent results first):

• Zhizhen Zhang beat Denis Shapovalov (21): 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (1)
• Cameron Norrie (11) beat Yosuke Watanuki (Q): 6-4, 7-6 (5)
• Pedro Cachin beat Francisco Cerundolo (24): 6-1, 7-6 (6)
• Cristian Garin beat Miomir Kecmanovic (27): 7-6 (3), 6-7 (5), 6-4
• Frances Tiafoe (9) beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry: 6-3, 7-6 (5)
• Taylor Fritz (8) beat Christopher O’Connell: 7-6 (11), 6-4
• Sebastian Baez beat Marcos Giron: 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
• Bernabe Zapata Miralles beat Daniel Evans (19): 6-3, 6-2
• Alex De Minaur (16) beat Marco Cecchinato (Q): 6-4, 7-6 (5)
• Dusan Lajovic beat Felix Auger-Aliassime (7): 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (5)
• Aslan Karatsev (Q) beat Botic van de Zandschulp (23): 6-2, 7-5
• Roman Safiullin (Q) beat Tommy Paul (14): 6-3, 7-6 (3)
• Daniil Medvedev (2) beat Andrea Vavassori (Q): 6-4, 6-3
• Alexander Shevchenko (Q) beat Jiri Lehecka (31): 6-1, 6-1
• Jan-Lennard Struff (LL) beat Ben Shelton (32): 4-6, 7-6 (4), 7-5
• Alexander Zverev (13) beat Roberto Carballes Baena: 6-7 (6), 7-5, 6-0
• Holger Rune (6) beat Alexander Bublik: 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (9)
• Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (29) beat Albert Ramos-Vinolas: 6-3, 6-4
• Hubert Hurkacz (12) beat Richard Gasquet: 6-7 (9), 6-4, 7-5
• Hugo Grenier (Q) beat Sebastian Korda (22): 7-6 (5), 7-6 (7)
• Borna Coric (17) beat Hugo Gaston (WC): 6-3, 6-3
• Roberto Bautista Agut (20) beat Quentin Halys: 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3
• Carlos Alcaraz (1) beat Emil Ruusuvuori: 2-6, 6-4, 6-2
• Karen Khachanov (10) beat Thiago Monteiro: 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
• Grigor Dimitrov (26) beat Gregoire Barrere: 7-6 (6), 7-6 (2)
• Andrey Rublev (5) beat Stan Wawrinka: 7-5, 6-4
• Yannick Hanfmann (Q) beat Lorenzo Musetti (15): 6-4, 7-6 (3)
• Daniel Altmaier (LL) beat Oscar Otte: 6-4, 7-5
• Jaume Munar beat Tallon Griekspoor (30): 7-6 (3) ret.
• Matteo Arnaldi (Q) beat Casper Ruud (3): 6-3, 6-4
• Yoshihito Nishioka (28) beat Alex Molcan: 5-7, 6-4, 6-4