Redemption of Stef: After US Open anguish, Tsitsipas thrives in Paris

Like most people, tennis players rarely discuss matters of the spirit. But there do come those moments when a player will find himself face-to-face with a spiritual notion: redemption.

The avatar for that concept at Roland Garros this year is fifth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas, who today reached the semis of a major for the second time in his career with a gem of a victory over 13th-seeded Andrey Rublev Rublev. In a match that lasted five minutes short of two hours, the 22-year-old Greek earned a 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 win that carried at least some measure of redemption and, on a more secular basis, vivid progress.

Consider the backstory. Tsitsipas arrived at Roland Garros in 2019 off the heels of having beaten Roger Federer at the Australian Open and a semifinal showing in Melbourne. Alas, in Paris, he’d lost in the fourth round to another Swiss, Stan Wawrinka, in a five-hour, nine-minute epic. Tsitsipas has publicly admitted that the loss haunted him for months.

Still, one early tough loss in the life of a young hopeful was but a singular moment one could write off. But then, just last month at the US Open, Tsitsipas lost another long match, in the third round, going out to Borna Coric. On that occasion, Tsitsipas led two sets to one and 5-1 in the fourth, served for it at 5-4, 40-love and would end up seeing six match points evaporate. Added to the mix, on the first Sunday of Roland Garros, playing Rublev in the finals of Hamburg, Tsitsipas served for the title at 5-4 in the third set—and lost that match too.

With that trio of horrors in mind, a shadow of doubt loomed over Tsitsipas as he entered Court Philippe Chatrier on Wednesday. In contrast, Rublev possessed an aura of destiny. All tournament long, he’d fought back from deficits. Two days after squeaking past Tsitsipas in Hamburg, Rublev faced American Sam Querrey in the first round. Querrey took a two-set lead and served for the match. Rublev rallied, backed strongly by his superb fitness and forceful groundstrokes. Three wins later, Rublev arrived in his first Roland Garros quarterfinal.

And for nine games today, Rublev appeared headed one round further at a major for the first time. He broke Tsitsipas at 2-all, capturing the game with a crisp assemblage of a powerful return, a court-stretching inside-out forehand and a swing volley winner. At 4-3, Rublev held serve at love and, at 5-4, appeared ready to take a pivotal lead.

Getty Images

Then everything changed. Four unforced errors off the Rublev racquet evened the set—and liberated Tsitsipas.

“Happen all the other days with me that everyone was serving for the set and somehow I was coming back,” Rublev told press. “Today happen with Stefanos that I was serving with him for the set, and he come back. This is part of our sport.”

A geographic tussle ensued. Rublev is quite proficient at contemporary, east-west, pounding baseline tennis. But Tsitsipas, once in flow, sees the court quite differently, everything from his temperament to strokes keen to move forward and direct traffic to different corners of the court.

Their different view of the court became quite vivid when Rublev served at 5-6, 15-all. Tsitsipas feathered a sliced, crosscourt backhand—not exactly a drop shot, but close enough. Though Rublev got to the ball, all he could do was awkwardly poke it crosscourt, giving Tsitsipas time to hit one of his confidence-building shots, a laced crosscourt backhand pass for a winner. Though Rublev won the next point, Tsitsipas started to establish not just a pattern, but an idea: limits versus vision, the controller versus the marketer.

At 30-all, Rublev again came in awkwardly and was passed once again. Uncomfortable in the transition area, leery of Tsitsipas attacking him, Rublev now knew he’d have to hit his groundstrokes with more pace than usual—and at set point down, flagged a forehand long.

“He missed a few shots that he didn't before,” said Tsitsipas. “I think tactics changed after. I started to feel my game a bit better. I started feeling my movement on the court also better, slightly became more comfortable moving around the court hitting at the same time.”

Getty Images

So this time, Tsitsipas was the Houdini, an escape artist, now unchained. Serving in the second set at 2-all, love-30, Tsitsipas sliced a wide ace, held and then broke open the match one game later. With Rublev serving at 2-3, 15-30, the two staged a captivating 28-shot rally, ended at last with Rublev striking a forehand wide. On the next point, a Tsitsipas passing shot skipped off the net for a winner.

What followed was less formality, more showcase. Tsitsipas began to dictate from all sides, a smorgasbord of forehands, backhands, serves, court positioning and, most of all, high-energy movement. Rublev remained persistent—but also, narrow in his ability to find ways to derail an oppressor who was also exceptionally composed. For as much emotion as Tsitsipas brings, this match also had a business-like quality to it, a sense that the stakes were such—a Grand Slam semi, redemption for all that had previously happened—that it was best to let the racquet do all the talking.

The first set lasted 50 minutes. Tsitsipas won the second in only 29. In the third, Rublev served at 1-2, 15-30—and once again, Tsitsipas carved a crosscourt slice backhand. This time, Rublev lined his two-hander into the net. Down break point, Rublev hit a crosscourt backhand long.

And yet, given Tsitsipas’ history, what would happen come crunch time? Rublev fought off a match point at 2-5. At 5-3, Tsitsipas opened with a play straight out of Pete Sampras, hammering a serve down the T—only to see it called long. Tsitsipas briefly questioned the umpire, but then got right back to work, pummeling a forehand down the line and, soon enough, closing it out at love.

So soon after the anguish of New York, Tsitsipas has flourished in Paris. Justifiably pleased with what he’d done today and how much he continues to progress as a contender, Tsitsipas after this match cast his tennis journey in the lavish terms that make him one of this decade’s most charismatic players: “I’m chasing something spectacular.”