World No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas reached another milestone in a breakthrough year on Wednesday night, beating Adrian Mannarino in his second-round match at the US Open, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-0, to claim his 50th tour-level win of the year.
He’s the first player, man or woman, to reach 50 tour-level wins this year, and it’s going to be a while before anyone else hits that mark—Andrey Rublev has the next-most wins on the men’s tour with 43, while Ashleigh Barty leads the women with 41.
After building a two-sets-to-love lead on Mannarino, Tsitsipas was actually three points from closing the match out in straight sets, inching ahead 4-3 in the third set tie-break—Mannarino then won four points in a row. Tsitsipas regrouped, though, blanking the Frenchman in the fourth to seal a two-hour, 41-minute win.
“In the third I had difficulties to kind of find that game, that momentum, as I did in the first and second,” Tsitsipas said. “I think he also loosened up a little bit, started playing a bit more carefree, and things were working in his favor more than they did for me.
“The tie-break was a close, very close battle, in which he prevailed, I think, having less unforced errors than me.”
Awaiting the Greek in the third round will be Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz.