Stefanos Tsitsipas barely hangs on in first round of Terra Wortmann Open

Second-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas faced a steep challenge from Gregoire Barrere in the opening round of the Terra Wortmann Open but squeaked by into the second round. Tsitsipas started the season strongly by reaching the finals of the Australian Open but might be reaching some kind of lull. Since April, Tsitsipas has only reached one final.

Tsitsipas’s game should translate well to grass as he has a strong serve and good athleticism. In Stuttgart, Germany at the Boss Open on grass, Tsitsipas flamed out in the second round. Prior to that at the French Open, Tsitsipas lost in the quarterfinals on clay (though that was to Carlos Alcaraz so there is no shame in that).

On Monday, Stefanos Tsitsipas was extremely inconsistent with his returns and couldn’t find his footing until about halfway through the match. Still, even in the third and final set, Tsitsipas fell down 3-1 in the tie-break before his serve and ability to get to the net won out.

Stefanos Tsitsipas barely hangs on in first round of the Terra Wortmann Open

Tsitsipas is still looking for his first title of the year and seems to be having more issues early in tournaments than before. He seemed capable of at least making the quarters in nearly every tournament but at this point, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him lose to his second-round opponent, Nicolas Jarry.

Jarry has an at-times dominant serve that will give Tsitsipas issues if Tsitsipas is as ineffective with his return as he was early in the match against Barrere. But if Tsitsipas controls his serve as well as he can – and he had 16 aces against Barrere – then Tsitsipas can defeat anyone. The issue he has had recently, however, is that he is so inconsistent with every other part of his game that nearly everyone can beat the fifth-ranked player on the ATP.