Tsitsipas outshines Marterer at Roland Garros for ATP-leading 30th win

On Sunday, No. 6-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas kicked off his Roland Garros campaign in style by cruising past Maximilian Marterer, 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (4).

Tsitsipas, who did not face a break point, had full control of the match from start to finish. In the first two sets, Marterer barely made a dent in the young Greek's game, allowing Tsitsipas to take a commanding lead. The 23-year-old German put up a better fight in the third set, but was ultimately unsuccessful.

"I was playing really well the first two sets of the match. Better than I thought I would," Tsitsipas said. "Third set was tricky. I felt like he started pressing more, started going for his shots more, faster, stronger. It went his way, I was couple times love-30 on his serve. I can say he played pretty well on these moments."

Tsitsipas, who lost in the second round of Roland Garros last year, is enjoying a stellar red-clay season. He won Estoril; he reached his first career clay-court Masters 1000 final in Madrid by stunning Rafael Nadal in the semis (losing to Novak Djokovic in the final); and he followed that with a semifinal showing in Rome, losing to eventual champion Nadal.

Playing the King of Clay back-to-back did not phase the young gun, who also took out Roger Federer in the Australian Open fourth round en route to his semifinal showing—his first career Grand Slam semis.

"I know that with them I have to be twice more focused and not give points away," Tsitsipas explained his strategy against the two Grand Slam champions. "They control the court so well. They know what they're doing. They know where they're playing, so everything is actually counted on these small details.

"I have seen the difference when I play the rest of the guys and them. They don't overplay, don't do crazy things. But they play so right, and they always actually are confident with themselves, with anything they are doing. I think that's the difference that I have seen."

The 20-year-old Greek awaits the winner of Prajnesh Gunneswaran vs. Hugo Dellien.