Stefanos Tsitsipas and Felix Auger-Aliassime are two of the brightest young stars on the ATP Tour. They meet for the first time as pros in a highly-anticipated second-round in Indian Wells on Saturday, while Alexander Zverev goes up against Martin Klizan.
(9) Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. (WC) Felix Auger-Aliassime
Don’t let the rankings fool you–this match has the potential to be both entertaining and competitive. Tsitsipas, who has battled his way into the ATP top 10, delivered his big breakthrough year in 2018. The Greek star came from out of nowhere at the Toronto Masters and dispatched 4 top-ten players (including Novak Djokovic) en route to the final. He wasn’t able to complete the perfect week, since he ran into Rafael Nadal in the title match and his game seems to pose a bit of a matchup problem.
Tsitsipas has continued his impressive form in 2019. A semifinal showing at the Australian Open, the title in Marseille, and the final in Dubai last week seem to indicate that Tsitsipas is just getting started moving up the rankings.
At age 18, Auger-Aliassime is two years Tsitsipas’ junior and does not have nearly the credentials of his opponent. However, the Canadian is enjoying his own rankings breakthrough. He is ranked a career-high 58th in the world on the strength of his first-ever ATP final appearance in Rio a few weeks ago. His move in rankings is impressive, especially since he spent most of 2018 on the Challenger circuit.
Tsitsipas is the more polished and accomplished of the two players, but Auger-Aliassime’s game has come along nicely of late. The underdog seems to perform better on clay (unusual for a North American player), and Tsitsipas’ all-court game is generally better-suited for hard courts. Tsitsipas should win, but expect Auger-Aliassime to put up a fight.
Cheryl pick: Tsitsipas in 2
Ricky pick: Tsitsipas in 2
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(3) Alexander Zverev vs. Martin Klizan
Zverev was the last casualty in the Nick Kyrgios tear through Acapulco last week. Although he was favored, the world No. 3 didn’t really get close to Kyrgios in the final, which the Aussie won in straight sets. Zverev has had plenty of rest, though, thanks to a first-round bye in Indian Wells.
Klizan dispatched the No. 3 seed’s brother, Mischa Zverev, in the first round. He is ranked No. 50 in the world; with the win over the elder Zverev, Klizan’s record on the year moves to 5-5. Except for a quarterfinal showing in Sofia, where he lost to Daniil Medvedev, Klizan has not enjoyed much success in 2019.
This shouldn’t be terribly difficult for Zverev. The Kyrgios loss notwithstanding, the German has played well in 2019–although he is without a title this season.
Cheryl pick: Zverev in 2
Ricky pick: Zverev in 2
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Zv in 2; Tpas in 2.
Tsitispas doesn’t know how to handle FAA’s pace and power; he must learn how to absorb the pace from his opponent. Andy Murray is the expert in doing that; perhaps Tsitisipas and his team should watch Murray’s matches and learn from there.
Against power players, if you can’t overpower them, then you should think of absorbing their pace by varying yours. Tsitispas should take some risk and try moving forward to the net.
FAA playing on another level rn amazing to watch
FAA does have a lovely baseline game, but I think perhaps the bigger problem for Tsitsipas is that those courts at IW are gritty, kind of slow and high bouncing and they seem to absorbing some of the sting from Tsitsipas’ groundstrokes.
He just can’t do any damage.
Tsitispas is feeling tired after his run to the final at Dubai; he has played 20 matches so far before coming to IW! Now he can get some good rest and prepares for Miami.
FAA does play like a Djoko, his groundstrokes are powerful and penetrating and he can change direction so easily. His serve is consistently quick pace and when he gets them in, they’re hard to defend against.
What Tsitsipas should do the next time they meet is to try to move forward more often, serves better, and tries going DTL on both wings instead of going CC esp with his BH. He staying at the baseline against FAA is like players staying at the baseline against Djoko, ie he’s asking for trouble.
I do agree that the court here at IW favours players like Djoko and FAA more than players like Fed or Tsitispas or even Kyrgios. The higher bounce allows the powerful baseliners more time to get into position to hit their powerful groundstrokes. FAA is also very quick and he’s playing close to the baseline compared to Tsitispas.
When Tsitispas couldnt play his best game, he tends to play from way behind the baseline and does all the running (a bit like Rafa!); I don’t think that’s the right thing to do; he should instead move forward to finish points quickly when he’s having an off day or feeling tired.
Agree that Tsitsi is probably a bit tired; he’s played a lot already this year. Gotta learn to manage that schedule! FAA will be for real, but still a year or two away from the big time IMO.
Its awkward conditions for a lot of players, helps the huge hitters on groundstrokes and serve but also players like Kohlshcreiber who likes to hit looping shots
I find FAA fits into that category of serving big and hitting hard kind of players. He’s hitting every shot as hard as possible, and his whole game looks so ‘manufactured’, I mean it’s like he puts in so much effort into every shot, it’s not a smooth flowing kind of shots or game, brutal is the word, to describe his game imo.
He is unlike Tsitispas whose game looks so smooth flowing, or Kyrgios who seems to hit with easy power and at will. I think Shapo is another one, who puts so much effort and power into his every shot, both their games seem to be lacking in finesse. They remind me of players who hit with so much raw brute power like Gonzo, or Soderling, or Verdasco (except that Shapo is more net rushing), or even Thiem.
The big four, when they’re young, didn’t play this way; even Rafa with all his muscles, didn’t hit as if he’s putting in all his power into every shot; he was hitting 100 mph FH at age 17 and yet they looked so effortless and he’s hitting them at will (and that got John Mac so impressed).
I’m not too impressed with hard hitting kind of game; even Stan and Delpo, two of the best and most successful power hitters among the active players, they hit with such smooth easy power that they make it look effortless and awesome, unlike the current young generation.
Khacha, Rublev, Shapo, FAA, even Sasha Zverev, to name a few, from the young gen – though they may come with some varieties, they are basically hard hitters and serve big. So, it makes Tsit and Medvedev all the more exciting to watch because they don’t play that way.
FAA is a hard hitting version of Djoko, he basically plays the same way as Djoko, though he tries serving like Fed with his serve motion but a more deliberate one, unlike Fed who doesn’t need much thinking or preparation before he serves. Fed is his idol so it’s not surprising he learns to serve like Fed and tries to be aggressive like Fed, but basically he’s a Fed/Djoko mix kind of player.
Tsit is a Fed/Rafa combination – plays like Fed but less aggressive and tends to play further behind the baseline like Rafa, plays a thinking game like Rafa but not lacking in instinctive play like Fed.