TennisNH

Preview: Quarantine Buddies Tsitsipas, Ymer Ready For Battle

12-Feb-2021 07:11:00 | ATP World Tour

Born within weeks of each other in 1998, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Mikael Ymer are more than familiar with each other’s games by now.

Though they’ve faced off on only one occasion at Tour level, with the Greek Tsitsipas claiming a 6-1, 6-3 victory last year in Marseille, they were often pitted against each other as juniors. And in the lead-up to the 2021 Australian Open, the 22-year-olds found themselves paired daily on the practice court.

Now they’ll go from quarantine training partners to third-round opponents.

“He’s someone I’ve known since he was a baby,” said the fifth seed Tsitsipas. “We’re the same generation, same age. He’s a serious opponent. I know he had some good wins in the past couple of rounds.”

In the opening round, the Stockholm-born Ymer showed he has some staying power by stunning Delray Beach titlist Hubert Hurkacz of Poland in five sets, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3. Then he held off an inspired challenge from 17-year-old wunderkind Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(5).

“He has a very unique, very different game style than most players,” noted Tsitsipas. “I would consider him as a counter-puncher. He likes to play with your speed. Very good baseliner. I think it’s good that we tested our tennis many times against one another during the quarantine.”

Tsitspias, a semi-finalist at Melbourne Park in 2019, is coming off a gruelling 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-4 victory over Australian wild card Thanasi Kokkinakis, in a match that lasted four hours and 32 minutes.

Ymer, who last year became the highest-ranked Swede (No. 67 in the FedEx ATP Rankings) since Robin Soderling in 2012, says he enjoyed being around the Tsitsipas camp, which included Stefanos’ father and coach, Apostolos.

“They’re really fun people to be around,” he said. “It felt like the practices went by pretty quick. We had some fun training, played points, played volley points. Then we had some time to eat lunch after, so it was nice. It felt a little bit like the junior days, because I spent some time with them when we were young. It was a bit of a déjà vu.”

When these former #NextGenATP stars take the court against each other on Day 6, there won’t be much in the way of secrets.

“I have a clue of how he plays and what he does,” said Tsitsipas. “I’m pretty sure it’s the same for him. This is going to be a difficult test, difficult challenge. He’s in really good shape, plays good tennis. He’s a big fighter. I’m going to have to fight harder than him.”

“We have known and played each other so many times, but I wouldn’t say it has that much of an impact,” said Ymer. “He does what he does, and he does it very well, so you kind of know what’s coming.”

Rafael Nadal will continue his pursuit of a record 21st major singles title when he takes the court against 69th-ranked Cameron Norrie of Great Britain in a battle of lefties. The second seed has altered his service motion due to lower-back tightness, but that didn’t stop the Mallorcan from posting a pair of victories in straight sets over Laslo Djere and Michael Mmoh, respectively.

“I keep doing the things that I can,” said Nadal. “I just keep fighting to find a solution. Of course, the preparation the last 15 days has not been ideal, but here I am.”

“It’s going to be an unbelievable experience,” said Norrie, who ousted countryman and Murray River Open champion Daniel Evans in the first round, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, before defeating Russian qualifier Roman Safiullin, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6(3). “I think I just have to go after it and enjoy every minute against him. He’s such a legend of the game, but on Saturday night, [he is] just another player. He’s a human being.”

ATP Cup teammates Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev continue to creep closer to an all-Russian quarter-final. But there are still a few obstacles that could keep that from happening. Up next for the seventh seed Rublev is Spanish veteran Feliciano Lopez, who at 39 continues to defy Father Time.

Lopez roared back from two sets down in the second round to dispatch 31st seed Lorenzo Sonego of Italy, 5-7, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4. Playing in a record 75th consecutive major, it was the Iron Man’s fifth career comeback from two sets down.

“I love the five-setters, honestly," said Lopez. “I think the five-set matches bring something different to tennis.”

Fourth seed Medvedev will aim to level his ATP Head2Head series against 28th seed Filip Krajinovic at 1-1. The Serbian claimed victory in his only previous meeting against Medvedev at the 2019 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

Ninth seed Matteo Berrettini and 16th seed Fabio Fognini, who teamed up to lead Italy to the ATP Cup final last week, will also be in action on Day 6. Berrettini is in for what is sure to be a big-hitting affair with 19th seed Karen Khachanov of Russia, while Fognini meets 21st seed Alex de Minaur of Australia.