Australian Open: 2023 runner-up Tsitsipas into second round after four-set win

Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, the No 7 seed, advanced to the second round of the Australian Open by beating Belgian lucky loser Zizou Bergs 5-7, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 at Melbourne Park on Monday.

Tsitsipas, ranked No 7, reached the final in Melbourne last year, his second at a Grand Slam, before going down to world No 1 Novak Djokovic.

“I have done anything that I had under my control to get back on court as soon as possible.” – Tsitsipas on his recent injury woes

Tsitsipas was happy with his performance on Monday, saying he felt physically and mentally involved during the contest.

“Great game of tennis the second and third set of the match. I wasn’t focused too much on score, and I did a great job there, coming up with powerful shots, pressing early on during the rallies,” he told the media after his win. “It felt great to be at that level of tennis. I was very focused, especially after losing the first set. I knew that this is my time to change things up and move on with better tennis, with better power and movement on the court, and I think I outplayed him as well physically. I was stronger physically today, at least that’s the way I felt. I think winning the first match today was all due to physicality and being constantly mentally involved during the match.”

The Greek, who plays Australia’s Jordan Thompson next, has been bothered by injury over the past few months but said he had recovered much quicker than he had anticipated.

“My recovery has kind of been insane. I’m talking on behalf of players that have had this injury in the past. I have spoken to a few of them. It’s something that tennis players are faced with at some period of their career. It’s an injury that’s more common than I initially thought. My recovery has been astonishing, in a way, because it’s been quicker, in fact, than any other player. I have done anything that I had under my control to get back on court as soon as possible.”

Melbourne (Grand Slam), other first-round matches (Melbourne Park, hard, USD 58,910,000):

• Jakub Mensik (Q) beat Denis Shapovalov: 6-3, 7-5, 7-5
• Alexei Popyrin beat Marc Polmans (WC): 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-2
• Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (23) beat Constant Lestienne: 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (5)
• Ben Shelton (16) beat Roberto Bautista Agut: 6-2, 7-6 (2), 7-5
• Daniil Medvedev (3) beat Terence Atmane (Q): 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, 1-0 ret.
• Emil Ruusuvuori beat Patrick Kypson (WC): 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4)
• Sebastian Korda (29) beat Vit Kopriva (Q): 6-1, 6-4, 2-6, 4-6, 6-2
• Flavio Cobolli (Q) beat Nicolas Jarry (18): 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5
• Lorenzo Musetti (25) beat Benjamin Bonzi: 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-2
• Hugo Gaston (LL) beat Roberto Carballes Baena: 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4
• Frances Tiafoe (17) beat Borna Coric: 6-3, 7-6 (7), 2-6, 6-3
• Novak Djokovic (1) beat Dino Prizmic (Q): 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4
• Quentin Halys beat Lloyd Harris (Q): 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5, 7-6 (2)
• Daniel Elahi Galan beat Jason Kubler (WC): 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-6 (8)
• Sebastian Baez (26) beat J.J. Wolf: 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, 3-0 ret.
• Taylor Fritz (12) beat Facundo Diaz Acosta: 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
• Jesper De Jong (Q) beat Pedro Cachin: 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4
• Christopher O’Connell beat Cristian Garin: 3-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5
• Tomas Machac beat Shintaro Mochizuki (LL): 7-5, 6-1, 7-5
• Andrey Rublev (5) beat Thiago Seyboth Wild: 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (6)
• Fabian Marozsan beat Marin Čilić: 6-1, 2-6, 6-2, 7-5
• Francisco Cerundolo (22) beat Dane Sweeny (Q): 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2
• Pavel Kotov beat Arthur Rinderknech: 7-5, 6-1, 6-7 (6), 6-7 (5), 6-3
• Jannik Sinner (4) beat Botic van de Zandschulp: 6-4, 7-5, 6-3
• Matteo Arnaldi beat Adam Walton (WC): 7-6 (5), 6-2, 6-4
• Jaume Munar beat Alexander Shevchenko: 6-3, 6-3, 6-1
• Richard Gasquet vs. Carlos Alcaraz
• Alexander Zverev vs. Dominik Koepfer
• Daniel Evans vs. Lorenzo Sonego
• Sebastian Ofner vs. Thanasi Kokkinakis
• Mackenzie McDonald vs. Juncheng Shang
• Alexander Bublik vs. Sumit Nagal
• Tommy Paul vs. Gregoire Barrere
• Holger Rune vs. Yoshihito Nishioka
• SoonWoo Kwon vs. Lukas Klein
• Marcos Giron vs. Jack Draper
• Max Purcell vs. Mate Valkusz
• Grigor Dimitrov vs. Marton Fucsovics
• Albert Ramos-Vinolas vs. Casper Ruud
• Dusan Lajovic vs. Giulio Zeppieri
• Cameron Norrie vs. Juan Pablo Varillas
• Bernabe Zapata Miralles vs. Jiri Lehecka
• James McCabe vs. Alex Michelsen
• Roman Safiullin vs. Tallon Griekspoor
• Arthur Fils vs. Jiri Vesely
• Laslo Djere vs. Arthur Cazaux
• Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Dominic Thiem
• Alex De Minaur vs. Milos Raonic
• Rinky Hijikata vs. Jan-Lennard Struff
• Miomir Kecmanovic vs. Yosuke Watanuki
• Alexandre Muller vs. Hugo Grenier
• Maximilian Marterer vs. Nuno Borges
• Omar Jasika vs. Hubert Hurkacz
• Zhizhen Zhang vs. Federico Coria
• Ugo Humbert vs. David Goffin
• Christopher Eubanks vs. Taro Daniel
• Yannick Hanfmann vs. Gael Monfils
• Andy Murray vs. Tomas Martin Etcheverry
• Alejandro Tabilo vs. Aleksandar Kovacevic
• Aleksandar Vukic vs. Jordan Thompson
• Daniel Altmaier vs. Karen Khachanov
• James Duckworth vs. Luca Van Assche
• Adrian Mannarino vs. Stan Wawrinka