Tsitsipas Tops Thiem In Madrid Masters Thriller, Americans Advance; Alcaraz v Dimitrov Sun.

The battle of former finalists went right down to the wire at the Madrid Masters with Stefanos Tsitsipas coming out ahead of Dominic Thiem in three sets 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(7-5).

“It was very physical and I think we both played our best,” Tsitsipas said. “I’m in a way happy that we were able to show that kind of tennis.

“Today sort of showed what kind of intensity two guys that play single-hand backhands can bring to tennis. I’m happy I got away with a win. Things weren’t easy at the very end but I just kept fighting.”

Meeting for the first time in over two years, it was the Thiem jumping out ahead taking the opener before Tsitsipas got into gear behind his serve. At one point, the Greek didn’t miss a first serve for over an hour, recording 39 straight at one point!

In the middle of the third, Tsitsipas would escape from a 0-30 deficit then Thiem would save five break points at 5-all.

Thiem pulled ahead in the breaker 3-1 only to falter at the very end.

“That’s fantastic, 39 is a lot,” Tsitsipas said of the streak to the ATP. “That shows that perhaps I improved today on my serve. That’s a positive mark for me. I think I just owe it all to fluidity and just being relaxed on my serve… I think it’s just pure relaxation and focus.”

Despite the loss, it’s awfully encouraging news for Thiem who just hasn’t been the same since wrist surgery a few years ago. This was his best performance in years.

Second-seeded Daniil Medvedev marched on moving past qualifier Andrea Vavassori 6-4, 6-3. Vavassori has upset Andy Murray in the first round, but no such luck against another former No. 1.

Medvedev tallied four aces, had four doubles, lost only eights points on first serve and never dropped serve.

“I played well today. I felt [good],” said Medvedev.. “There were some tight moments in the match, but when we had rallies from the baseline, I felt like many times I was in control. I’m really happy about my level.”

Top Americans also advanced. Taylor Fritz won a tough opening set breaker to defeat Christopher O’Connell 7-6(13-11), 6-4. Frances Tiafoe ousted Tomas Martin Etcheverry in straight sets 6-3, 7-6(7-5). Tiafoe was down 5-3 in the second.

The 11th-seeded Cameron Norrie handled Japan’s Yosuke Watanuki 6-4, 7-6(7-5). The 16th-seeded Alex De Minaur knocked out Italy’s Marco Cecchinato 6-4, 7-6(7-5).

Upsets hit the lower seeds especially hard as No. 14 seed Tommy Paul, No. 19 Dan Evans, No. 21 Denis Shapovalov, No. 23 Botic Van De Zandschulp, No. 24 Francisco Cerundolo, No. 27 Miomir Kecmanovic, No. 31 Jiri Lehecka and No. 32 Ben Shelton all fell.

But the biggest upset on the day was Dusan Lajovic of Serbia upending No. 7 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in a thriller 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(7-5). Although Lajovic just won the Banja Luka title.

“It was super tight at the end,” said Lajovic. “I was just hoping that he was going to stay back on my serve, because when he was coming in, I was feeling a lot of pressure.”

Looking at tomorrow, feature matches slated in third round play include No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz battling No. 26 Grigor Dimitrov. Alcaraz was the victor in their sole meeting in the 2022 Paris Masters last fall.

No. 5 Andrey Rublev faces No. 28 Yoshihito Nishioka, No. 6 Holger Rune locks up with No. 29 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, No. 10 Karen Khachanov meets No. 20 Roberto Bautista Agut, No. 12 Hubert Hurkacz will challenge No. 17 Borna Coric and two-time champion Alexander Zverev will battle Hugo Grenier.

SUNDAY MADRID MASTERS SCHEDULE
MANOLO SANTANA STADIUM
Starting At: 11:00 am
ATP Karen KHACHANOV [10] vs Roberto BAUTISTA AGUT (ESP) [20]
Not Before 1:00 PM
WTA Jessica Pegula (USA) [3] vs Marie Bouzkova (CZE) [29]
Not Before 4:00 PM
WTA Iga Swiatek (POL) [1] vs Bernarda Pera (USA) [28]

Not Before 8:00 pm
ATP Carlos ALCARAZ (ESP) [1] vs Grigor DIMITROV (BUL) [26]
ATP Alejandro DAVIDOVICH FOKINA (ESP) [29] vs Holger RUNE (DEN) [6]

ARANTXA SANCHEZ STADIUM
Starting At: 11:00 am
WTA Lesia Tsurenko (UKR) vs Daria Kasatkina [8]
ATP Yoshihito NISHIOKA (JPN) [28] vs Andrey RUBLEV [5]
Not Before 2:00 pm
ATP [Q] Hugo GRENIER (FRA) vs Alexander ZVEREV (GER) [13]
Not Before 6:00 PM
WTA Barbora Krejcikova (CZE) [11] vs Xiyu Wang (CHN)
Not Before 8:00 PM
WTA Qinwen Zheng (CHN) [22] vs Ekaterina Alexandrova [16]