Stefanos Tsitsipas "pumps" his way into enticing hard-court rematch with Carlos Alcaraz

HIGHLIGHTS: Tsitsipas handles De Minaur in third round

Moments after his 6-4, 6-3 win over Alex de Minaur in the third round of the Miami Open Monday, Stefanos Tsitsipas was handed a pen so that he could perform the post-match ritual of signing a camera lens. Out came two words: “Pump it!” Fittingly, Tsitsipas deployed a red pen. For he was on fire this evening.

The high energy generated by these two whenever each competes was what made this match intriguing. Granted, the fifth-ranked Tsitsipas had won all seven of their previous ATP Tour matches. Currently ranked No. 28, de Minaur has won five ATP singles titles and at the age of 23 has many more years of great tennis ahead of him. In the spirit of one of his mentors, incoming Hall of Famer Lleyton Hewitt, de Minaur has long personified Australian Tennis Principle #1: If you don’t leave blood on the court, you’re not doing your job. But given the contrast in weaponry and size—the 6’ 4” Tsitsipas stands four inches taller—de Minaur was going to have turn in one massive Monday night effort.

I hate to admit this given how much I like watching Tsitsipas play, but in recent months, I’ve come to be annoyed by how he conducts himself. When Tsitsipas first surfaced as a player of interest four years ago, I liked his blend of off-court introspection and on-court aggression. But as time has gone on, everything from Tsitsipas’ abuse of bathroom breaks to his father’s penchant for mid-match coaching to a lack of grace and understanding towards those who’ve beaten him leaves me wondering if Tsitsipas is just a bit too precious and even child-like. Hopefully, the recent addition of Thomas Enqvist to his team will add new forms of maturity.

But in this match, Tsitsipas reminded me of one of my key viewing tenets: What the player does inside the lines constitutes at least 51 percent of my opinion. At least for me, the tennis itself is what matters most. And tonight, over the course of 89 minutes, Tsitsipas showed what makes him such a force.

From the start, it was clear Tsitsipas knew he’d need to match de Minaur in the energy department—and then trot out his greater set of weapons to vault ahead. This was notable in the way Tsitsipas deployed the two most important shots in contemporary tennis, the serve and the forehand. Time after time, he instantly took control of rallies. Mostly this happened with massive forehands, struck from and to all corners of the court. But there were also moments when Tsitsipas unleashed his backhand in ways that are sometimes difficult for him.

Hand it to de Minaur. While Tsitsipas based his case on confidence—belief based on data, in the form of those prior seven victories—de Minaur occupied the realm of faith, invested in the belief that enough tenacity and focus could earn a breakthrough win. Serving at 1-2, 15-40 in the first set, de Minaur saved three break points. But even in these early stages, it was clear this was a battle between a middleweight and a heavyweight. The cumulative pressure of the task weighed on de Minaur. His back to the wall, serving at 4-5, de Minaur could barely hold off Tsitsipas. Holding a point for 5-all, the Aussie was mere witness to a laser-like down-the-line backhand winner. Down set point, de Minaur fired a crisp 117 m.p.h. ace down the T. But in that same game, he also served two double-faults and at deuce, hit one backhand long and another wide to hand Tsitsipas the set.

Much to de Minaur’s frustration, he held a 15-40 lead in the opening game of the second set, as well as another at 1-all, but was unable to break and then dropped his own serve at 1-2. From there, the Tsitsipas attack continued, the Greek winning 12 of his last 13 service points. In the end, Tsitsipas hit 31 winners to de Minaur’s 13. Tsitsipas was also a dazzling 19 of 21 at the net.

Next up, a mouth-watering battle versus Carlos Alcaraz, who at last year’s US Open beat Tsitsipas in a fifth-set tiebreaker. Much as Tsitsipas felt the need to pump it versus de Minaur, he’ll need to bring even more high energy and execution against Alcaraz.