Stefanos Tsitsipas suffers shock first-round loss to Daniel Galán at US Open
STARTING THIRD: Tsitsipas had never faced a player capable of matching his athleticism in the first round at Roland Garros and his first brush with the big-hitting Galán was a surprise. (Photo courtesy of Roland Garros/Tennis News)
STARTING THIRD: Tsitsipas had never faced a player capable of matching his athleticism in the first round at Roland Garros and his first brush with the big-hitting Galán was a surprise. (Photo courtesy of Roland Garros/Tennis News)
Stefanos Tsitsipas had never faced a player capable of matching his athleticism in the first round at Roland Garros and his first brush with the big-hitting Daniel Galán was a surprise.
Tsitsipas, a 27-year-old from Athens, won three matches before losing in the opening round to Gaelo Sánchez on the Spaniard’s last-chance performance, 7-5, 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-1, at the US Open on Wednesday.
A week after coming within a set match of claiming his first Grand Slam title, Tsitsipas got the shock of his life when Galán leveled the first set at 5. Tsitsipas never recovered in the second. In the third, Tsitsipas went down in a heap on his back for a 6-0, 6-0 first-round loss that had the world sitting up and taking notice.
“I wasn’t fully prepared for that first serve,” Tsitsipas said. “He’s a very quick guy.”
Galán, the top-ranked player in the world, entered as a huge favorite after winning his eighth career title last week at the Madrid Open. He has now defeated five of the top
