Stefanos Tsitsipas is back in the final in Marseille. One year after his title at the Open 13 Provence, the Greek beat Kazakh Alexander Bublik (55th) in the semi-finals, 7/5 6/3 in 1h08.
Seeded No. 2 in the draw of this 28th edition, Tsitsipas has just recorded his 7th consecutive victory on the Palais des Sports court. Facing Alexander Bublik, whom he used to play on the junior circuit, the world number 6 has still not conceded a single set since the beginning of this winning streak.
And although he was leading the way in this semi-final, the defending champion was delayed in closing out the match, thanks to Bublik who was hit hard. With Tsitsipas leading 7/5 5/2 40-0 on his opponent's serve, Bublik pulled out all the stops: a spoon serve to save the first match point, followed by a drop shot, or an ace on a 191 km/h second ball.
The Kazakh, born in 1997, finally won his service game, forcing Tsitsipas to wait for his own serve to clinch the win. " You never know what to expect with himsaid Tsitsipas after his victory. I found the balance and I didn't panic when it got tense. I managed to stay focused, to stay in the game by playing all the points in the same way. "
Thanks to the public!
The Greek also thanked the audience, especially the supporters of the We Are Tennis Fan Academy, who played a sirtaki tune during the match. " Thank you, you were greathe addressed them. The public here understands tennis, so it's nice to be able to show my best level. "
Stefanos Tsitsipas will play the 10th final of his career on Sunday, the second in a row in Marseille. He will face the winner of the second semi-final between Gilles Simon and Féix Auger-Aliassime. " Tomorrow will be a really exciting dayhe concluded. I'm looking forward to showing an even stronger face than I have since the beginning of the week! "
