Less than 24 hours after Tallon Griekspoor - the last remaining Dutch player in the Rotterdam tournament - advanced to the second round, the Haarlem-born player suited up for an enticing match against the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, who eliminated the Frenchman Harold Mayot on the very first day of the Rotterdam tournament.
On Wednesday evening, Griekspoor and Matteo Berrettini fought a 149-minute service battle in the first round of the ABN AMRO Open. The two combined for a staggering 148 service points and just 41 return points in a 6-3, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4) home victory for the Dutchman. The first-round affair also produced just two deuces and one break point.
Griekspoor used Wednesday's match as an example for Thursday's meeting after comparing Berrettini to Tsitsipas similar players. "I think Tsitsipas also likes to play a service forehand and I think it will be good for me to pin him down in his backhand corner," Griekspoor told reporters after his first-round victory.
"It was my goal today, too, to pull him to his forehand and then pin him down, because he waits to rotate around his backhand.
"Tsitsipas is someone who looks for services on his ball 3rd ball forehand. Hopefully, that gives me a lot of returns to get away from that, but I’ll have to be very fierce tomorrow again," Griekspoor continued.
Less than 24 hours after eliminating Matteo Berrettini in the first round of the Rotterdam tournament, home hero Griekspoor saw a familiar theme bloom again after both players showed early dominance in their service games.
Tsitsipas was the first to force his opponent to the limit when the 12th-ranked Greek got close to breaking Griekspoor in the fifth game, but four break points would not end up being enough as Griekspoor was able to fend off the fierce Greek attack.
Griekspoor would reply by forcing a break point of his own and grab this opportunity with a stellar cross-court forehand winner. But after keeping his own game, Tsitsipas would answer with his break to erase Griekspoor's 3-game lead.
Some costly mistakes from Griekspoor allowed Tsitsipas to get right back in contention for the set, but the Dutchman corrected on two occasions, setting the score at 6-5 after two aces followed by two primal screams. After Tsitsipas held Griekspoor to a love game, a first tiebreaker of the day would be necessary to determine a set winner.
The first crucial mini-break would go Griekspoor's way, and the Dutchman would build on this early success with a slice and great defensive work to Tsitsipas' fierce attempts. After a mini-break for the Greek, Griekspoor would get his first shot at winning the set on Tsitsipas' serve, but the Dutchman would mishit both serves and need his third setpoint to clinch the first set.
A tight second set again saw neither player build an early margin thanks to zero breakpoints and another big collection of service points - of the 63 points scored before the tiebreak 48 were service points.
The consequent tiebreak started well for Griekspoor after a flawless slice and an ace put the Dutchman up 2-1. Tsitsipas would not let Griekspoor get away with much as the Dutchman still could not come up with adequate replies to the Greek's service game. Staunchly defending his grasp over the tiebreak, Tsitsipas fought off a Griekspoor matchpoint and eventually came out the winner after a mishap cost the Dutchman dearly.
Banking on his second-set tiebreak win, Tsitsipas opened the deciding third set with his first break of the match and threatened to do it a second time after a trio of faults put Griekspoor in a difficult situation. The Dutchman replied accordingly and fended off the storming Greek as he was finding momentum.
A fatigued Griekspoor had trouble breaking down the Greek's defenses and returning his powerful serves as the match approached the 150-minute-mark. However, the Dutchman fought back and forced a crucial break all the way in the seventh game with his second breakpoint.
With the initiative back in the home hero's hands, Griekspoor approached the net on a frequent basis again, giving Tsitsipas the chance to re-take a one-break lead. The Dutchman fended off another breakpoint and snatched a critical fifth game with a magnificent cross-body shot.
A battling Griekspoor couldn't avoid a second break as Tsitsipas grabbed the momentum back in the 36th game of the match and left the Dutchman fighting for a spot in the quarter-finals of his favourite tournament - the one Griekspoor's former coach called "the fifth Grand Slam".
After erasing Tsitsipas' first matchpoint, the Greek took his second to ice the game and eliminate the last Dutchman from the ABN AMRO Open after 2 hours and 59 minutes.
View all the match statistics on Flashscore.
