Tsitsipas Captures 200th Win, Advances In Acapulco

Stefanos Tsitsipas earned his 200th tour-level win on Tuesday at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, where he overcame Serbian Laslo Djere 7-6(7), 7-6(4) to reach the second round in Acapulco.

In a hard-fought battle, the Greek saved two set points in the first set at 5-4, 40/30 on Djere’s serve and then at 6/7 in the tie-break, before he edged a tight second set to advance after two hours and 15 minutes at the ATP 500 event.

“It was very challenging,” Tsitsipas said in his on-court interview. “There were a lot of tight moments today. It was not easy coming in and trying to adjust, but I felt much more comfortable game after game. There was a point where I was getting ahead and playing my best tennis. He put up a great fight and he wasn’t easy to crack. But those two tie-breaks I managed really well and managed to execute my game plan.”

The Greek claimed his maiden tour-level victory in October 2017, defeating Karen Khachanov in Shanghai in straight sets. Since then, the 23-year-old has captured seven tour-level titles, including the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals trophy and the 2021 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters crown.

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Tsitsipas has also risen to a career-high No. 3 in the ATP Rankings and advanced to the final at Roland Garros in 2021, falling to Novak Djokovic, who he has defeated twice so far. The World No. 4 is now 200-99 on his career.

The third seed is aiming to win his first title of the season in Acapulco, after reaching the semi-finals at the Australian Open and final at the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.

“The fans are really engaged, and they love tennis here,” Tsitsipas added. “A lot of the players are getting good support including me and it is electric out there on court. It is one of the best atmospheres at an ATP 500 I have played.”

Tsitsipas, who enjoyed a run to the championship match in Mexico last year, now leads Djere 1-0 in their ATP Head2Head series and will next face J.J. Wolf after the American qualifier saved a match point en route to a 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-2 win over Lorenzo Sonego.

Peter Gojowczyk has received a walkover into the quarter-finals following Alexander Zverev’s withdrawal. The 32-year-old will play either Cameron Norrie or John Isner in the last eight.