In-form Tsitsipas makes Rotterdam final

Top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas has rallied past Czech qualifier Jiri Lehecka at the Rotterdam hard-court indoor tournament to reach his first final since the French Open last June.

Tsitsipas, whose fine form was demonstrated by his run to the semi-final in the Australian Open and by his comprehensive defeat of Aussie No.1 Alex de Minaur in the quarter-final of the Dutch tournament, defeated Lehecka 4-6 6-4 6-2 on Saturday.

The Greek world No.4 was made to work hard for nearly two hours by the 137th-ranked Lehecka, who had previously upset Canadian star Denis Shapovalov.

Tsitsipas said he’d not expected such an aggressive display from 20-year-old Lehecka, who was the lowest-ranked Rotterdam semifinalist since 1995.

“He was really pushing me,” Tsitsipas said.

“I did not know what to expect, so I was trying to figure out his patterns and his game.

“He was playing incredibly well after the first serve, pressing and attacking like I had never seen before. I had to stay in the match and I managed to survive.”

Tsitsipas will face Canad’s Felix Auger-Aliassime or Russia’s Andrey Rublev in Sunday’s final.

In-form Tsitsipas makes Rotterdam final
Independent Information