First victory for Tsitsipas in 2022 – courtesy of Basilashvili retirement

A win’s a win, but the world No 3 did not spend too much time on court

Stefanos Tsitsipas, ATP Cup 2022 – © AI / Reuters / Panoramic

January 5, 2022

Stefanos Tsitsipas claimed his maiden win of 2022 at the ATP Cup as his Georgian opponent Nikoloz Basilashvili retired from their singles encounter in the first set.

It handed the Greek a walkover win, with the score standing at 4-1 in his favour.

The world No 3 had lost his first match of the year when he played Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman on Monday, defeated 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-3.

The lack of time on court may be beneficial for him as he continues to recover from elbow surgery and needs to regain his full service action. When asked about it in his post-match press conference, he admitted he had not played or practised at all on Tuesday.

“I need to play some more tennis to assess the situation,” he said.

“Honestly, it has been, what, two days, and yesterday I had a day off. I didn’t even touch a racquet, so it’s really like back-to-back.”

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