“With certain opponents it’s a mind game”: Tsitsipas explains dominant win over Schwartzman

Playing the final match of day six at Roland-Garros against former world No.8 Diego Schwartzman, No 5 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas had a potentially challenging match on his hands.

After a poor last 12 months, Schwartzman had finally begun to find some momentum on the Paris clay. The Argentinian rallied from two sets to love down in the first-round, defeating No 32 seed Bernabe Zapata Miralles 1-6, 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-0, 6-4, before closing out a simpler win in the second-round against Nuno Borges in straight sets.

With the French crowd rallying behind Schwartzman to continue his comeback trail, and the world No 95 striking the ball with confidence, Stefanos Tsitsipas put on a clinic and dispatched the threat in just over two hours.

This begs the question: how did the No 5 seed defeat Schwartzman with such ease?

“Building patience like a monk” – Stefanos Tsitsipas breaks down keys to victory

Stefanos Tsitsipas came into this match wary of the threat that Diego Schwartzman poses, stating afterwards:

“I came into the match knowing that I might be playing a small guy but, in fact, his shot-making and the way he moves throughout the court is incredible.

“It wasn’t easy playing against him. It’s never easy playing against him, in fact. I need to be very much in the zone to get my decisions right and also to kind of start building momentum and building patience like a monk.”

However, the Greek admits that the match up against Schwartzman, particularly on clay, is one that he favours – and now leads 3-0.

Tsitsipas gets into the head of Schwartzman

For Tsitsipas, his match up against Schwartzman is all about playing percentages.

The 24-year-old explains, “There are certain matchups in which you have to readjust your game. Less risk involved. More daring shots in some circumstances against different opponents.

“Against other opponents, you just have to be smart in terms of conservative tennis, you know.”

In his third-round clash against the Argentinian, Tsitsipas believes he was able to pre-empt some of Schwartzman’s approach to the game.

“Sometimes it’s a mind game, in my opinion. When I play sometimes with certain opponents it’s a mind game. I can kind of get into their head what they’re thinking and how they want to approach their game towards me. And I give them something different. Sometimes they don’t expect it.”

The tactic from Tsitsipas certainly proved effective, with the No 5 seed winning 6-2, 6-2, 6-3, and dominating the match with 76% of first serves landed, 34 winners struck and only 26 unforced errors.

“I’m going to approach it with seriousness and professionalism” – No 5 seed focused ahead of Ofner clash

Next up, Tsitsipas will face world No 118 Sebastian Ofner, who has found some rich form at Roland-Garros this week.

The Austrian makes the third-round off the back of qualifying for the tournament, then upsetting Maxime Cressy, Sebastian Korda and Fabio Fognini.

While a round of 16 clash with a player outside of the world’s top 100 may seem like a gift to Stefanos Tsitsipas, the Greek is focused heading into the match, saying:

“In order for him to be playing at a fourth round of a Grand Slam, that means he’s been consistently delivering every two days, and that definitely a very different, separate challenge of what I’m used to, kind of playing guys that they have been around.

“I’m going to approach it with seriousness and professionalism.”

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