A Win & A Donation For The Tsitsipas Brothers
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Petros Tsitsipas earned a win in more ways than one on Wednesday in Rotterdam.
The Greek brothers defeated last week’s Singapore Tennis Open champions, Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen, 6-2, 6-3 to reach the second round of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament. The victory doesn’t just send them to the second round, though. It benefits children.
After winning his singles match against Egor Gerasimov on Tuesday, Stefanos said that for each tour-level doubles match he wins with his brother, he will donate 3,000 euros to Mazi gia to Paidi (Together For Children), whose mission is, “to provide immediate and effective support to children, families, and individuals with disabilities who are in need”.
[WATCH LIVE 1]“That’s for a great cause and also winning, it’s a great thing. The more we win, I really don’t have a problem donating,” Stefanos said on Tuesday. “I donate anyway, but I think that’s an extra reason to push ourselves to want to do better.”
This was the brothers’ first tour-level win together. Entering the match, Stefanos had lost 16 of his past 17 doubles matches, with his one victory coming at the ATP Cup, when Greece’s Spanish opponents retired after one game.
There were two upsets elsewhere in the draw. The Tsitsipas brothers’ next opponents, Henri Kontinen and Edouard Roger-Vasselin, a first-year duo, defeated top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 4-6, 6-3, 11-9. The Finnish-French team saved two match points to oust the Colombians.
In a quarter-final clash, Frenchmen Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin eliminated third seeds Wesley Koolhof and Lukasz Kubot 6-4, 6-3. Chardy and Martin saved the three break points they faced.
Top Seeds Survive In Buenos Aires
Top seeds Austin Krajicek and Franko Skugor nearly fell victim to the upset bug on Wednesday at the Argentina Open, but they rallied past Pablo Andujar and Jaume Munar 2-6, 6-3, 10-8. The American-Croatian duo will next play Argentine wild cards Francisco Cerundolo and Federico Coria, who eliminated Nicholas Monroe and Artem Sitak 3-6, 7-6(3), 10-7.
Romain Arneodo and Benoit Paire, who reached the final last week in Cordoba, were defeated early in Buenos Aires. Oliver Marach and Luis David Martinez saved two match points before defeating Arneodo and Paire 6-4, 3-6, 11-9.