Highlights: Stefanos Tsitsipas defeats John Isner in the third round
In the final match of day six at Roland Garros, it was a battle between two seeded players as Stefanos Tsitsipas took on John Isner in the third round. It was Tsitsipas who came out on top, defeating Isner 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(3), 6-1 in two hours and 38 minutes. Here are the highlights from the match.
It was the sixth career meeting between the two, as Tsitsipas now holds a 4-2 head-to-head lead over Isner after Friday’s win. It is also the fourth straight time he has beaten Isner, and the second time this year.
Isner played really well at the start of the match, as he was extremely aggressive on the return, putting a lot of pressure on the Tsitsipas serve. Tsitsipas was unable to get into any Isner service games in the set, winning only 17% of the return points, according to Infosys Match Centre. Isner would have three opportunities to break and would eventually break on the third attempt to allow him to serve for the set. Isner would hold at love and take the first set 7-5.
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In the second set, the momentum shifted as Isner was the one struggling to win points on the return. Isner only won 16% of the points on the return, while Tsitsipas won 41% of the points off Isner’s serve. The great return of serve led to four break chances for Tsitsipas, where he would eventually convert once to take the second set 6-3.
The third set was the tightest of them all, as you had a feeling that whoever was going to win the third, was going to finish the match in the fourth. Neither player got a look at a single break point, bringing the set to a tiebreak to settle things. In the tiebreak, Tsitsipas would jump out to an early 3-1 lead and would not look back, taking the tiebreak 7-3 to take a two sets to one lead.
Isner had no more gas in the tank after losing the third and was broken twice in the final set. Tsitsipas held each service game with ease in the fourth, giving Isner no opportunities to force a fifth set. Tsitsipas would cruise in the set, taking it 6-1 to advance to the fourth round.
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Next up for Tsitsipas is the 12th seed Pablo Carreno Busta, who beat American Steve Johnson in straight sets earlier on Friday.