NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stefanos Tsitsipas weathered a serve-volleying storm from Maxime Cressy before grinding the American wildcard down 7-6(2) 6-3 6-4 to reach the third round of the U.S. Open.
In a slow-burning contest of short, sharp points, fourth seed Tsitsipas had to fight off a set point against the French-born Cressy, who thrashed down 21 aces and chipped-and-charged relentlessly on a muggy night at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Impressing in his main draw debut at a Grand Slam, Cressy dragged the Greek deep into the final set but was broken in the ninth game as fatigue set in, allowing Tsitsipas to close out a tough win on serve.
Tsitsipas will next play Croatia’s Borna Coric for a place in the last 16.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
