Miami Open 2022: Stefanos Tsitsipas sees off a spirited JJ Wolf

In a tense match at Hard Rock Stadium, both men showed off their creative shotmaking, with the picks of the bunch coming in the second set.

Stefanos Tsitsipas in a file photo. (Image: Twitter)
By Nilavro Ghosh | Mar 27, 2022 | 2 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

Stefanos Tsitsipas won three sets against an unseeded American at an ATP Masters 1000 event for the third time in a row. After defeating Jack Sock and losing to Jenson Brooksby in Indian Wells, the Greek won the Miami Open presented by Itau on Saturday against J.J. Wolf. Tsitsipas beat the Ohio State product 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1 in a much tougher test than he faced in Acapulco a month ago, when he only dropped one game.

In a tense match at Hard Rock Stadium, both men showed off their creative shotmaking, with the picks of the bunch coming in the second set. Tsitsipas used his hand on his racquet’s throat to improvise a forehand slice, then followed it up with a backhand pass at 1-3. As the set came to a boil, Wolf outdid Tsitsipas with a lefty forehand winner on the dead run. The match was all about first-strike tennis, with each man looking to attack with the forehand and finish points at the net when the two 23-year-olds weren’t filling up the highlight reel. For much of the night, however, despite all of the baseline brilliance, the serve was the most dominant shot.

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‘He had nothing to lose’

“Always expect him to play the match of his life. He had nothing to lose,” Tsitsipas said. “I very much know how to handle situations like this, speaking from experience. It kind of worked in the third set. I think letting go and relaxing a bit helped me a lot and gave me that win.”

After struggling to make returns early in the match, Tsitsipas broke through on the first break point of the match to take the first set. Wolf responded with an early break to start the second set, then found two big serves to bring the tie-break to set point. After enthralling the Miami crowd with his upset performance, the American enraged his fans by forcing a decider.

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The third seed began to dictate in all phases of play in the final set, and it was all Tsitsipas. In the stanza, the Greek broke in each of his four return games, giving him a total of six breaks in the two-hour match. He finished with 37 winners and 20 errors, including 20 off the forehand.





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