Tennis: Greek Tsitsipas eliminated early at US Open

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stefanos Tsitsipas’s problems at the U.S. Open continued as he lost 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 to Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis in the first round on Tuesday.

After losing the first set narrowly in a tiebreak, Tsitsipas took the second set to level the match, but towards the end he appeared to be suffering from abdominal problems and lost after three hours and 54 minutes.

Tsitsipas, a two-time Grand Slam finalist, has a poor record at Flushing Meadows and has never made it past the third round at the US Open.

He also struggled to prepare for the tournament, winning only one of his three matches at the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Masters.

For Kokkinakis it was the first victory at the New York Grand Slam since 2019.

“A few years ago I had a five-set match against him at the Australian Open and I expected a war,” Kokkinakis said in his on-court interview.

“It was physically demanding out there and I tend to drag these matches out sometimes and have some really long fights, but I just tried to stay focused, stay the course and just score every point.”

Next he will face either Nuno Borges or Federico Coria.

(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)