Greek Tsitsipas suffers early exit at U.S. Open

[August 28, 2024]  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stefanos Tsitsipas's U.S. Open woes continued as he suffered a 7-6(5) 4-6 6-3 7-5 loss to Australia's Thanasi Kokkinakis in the first round on Tuesday.  

After losing a close first set in a tiebreak, Tsitsipas rallied to win the second and level the match, but appeared to have an abdominal issue late on before slumping to defeat in three hours and 54 minutes.

Tennis - U.S. Open - Flushing Meadows, New York, United States - August 27, 2024 Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas in action during his first round match against Australia's Thanasi Kokkinakis REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

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

He also struggled in the build-up to the tournament, winning just one of his three matches at the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Masters.

For Kokkinakis, it was a first win at the New York Grand Slam since 2019.

"I had a five-set battle with him a couple of years ago at the Australian Open and I was expecting a war," Kokkinakis said in his on-court interview.

"It was physical out there and I have a tendency to sometimes drag these matches on and have some real long battles, but I just tried to stay focused, stay the course and just tried to play every point."

He next faces either Nuno Borges or Federico Coria.

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

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