Daily Times

MELBOURNE: Fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas put in a dominant performance, keeping things “clean and simple” to thrash Swede Mikael Ymer 6-4 6-1 6-1 and canter into the fourth round of the Australian Open on Saturday. The 22-year-olds were hitting partners during their mandatory 14-day quarantine after arriving Down Under. Conditions were not much different on Saturday, with no spectators allowed due to the five-day lockdown in Melbourne. “Clean game. I think I kept things simple, didn’t complicate whatever tactics or whatever use of my game I wanted to execute today,” Tsitsipas told reporters. After a closely contested opening set when Tsitsipas could manage only a single break of the 95th-ranked Ymer’s serve, the Greek raised his level to turn the match into a one-sided affair at John Cain Arena. Ymer did not help his own cause with 36 unforced errors in the match but he managed to hit 14 winners, most from his heavy forehand. In reply, Tsitsipas stayed clinical, hit 27 winners and kept his unforced errors to 20 while winning 78% points on his first serve. He broke Ymer’s serve twice in the second set and four times in the third, while suffering just a single break on his own serve.