Tsitsipas outlasts Baez to advance to last 16 at Madrid Open

MADRID: Stefanos Tsitsipas felt like he was facing a cheetah on center court at the Madrid Open.

Point after point, his opponent Sebastian Baez kept chasing down balls and running around to stay alive in the third-round match.

The third-seeded Tsitsipas came through in the clutch moments, though, earning a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 win over the 31st-ranked Argentine to secure a spot in the last 16 of the clay-court tournament on Monday.

The Greek won the final four games of the opening set and the last three of the third to book his spot in the next round.

“I had to bring the best out of my game,” Tsitsipas said. “He wasn’t missing much. Of course he’s someone that covers and runs around the court pretty well. He definitely utilized that pretty well against me, being able to navigate himself throughout the entire court with ease, just gliding through the court like a cheetah.”

Tsitsipas broke for 5-3 in the final set and saved two break points to serve out the match after more than two hours.

“He wasn’t going to give up,” Tsitsipas said. “He really fought for every single point and I’m glad obviously that I overcame this.”

Tsitsipas, seeking his first title of the season, improved to 8-2 on clay. He was a finalist in the Australian Open and last week in Barcelona. He also was a finalist in Madrid in 2019, and a semifinalist again in 2022.

Earlier in the women’s draw, Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva’s impressive run was ended by second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka.

After three straight-set victories against top-40 opponents in her main-draw debut, the 16-year-old wild card couldn’t get past Sabalenka in the fourth round, losing 6-3, 6-1 in her first center-court appearance in Madrid.

Andreeva became the youngest player to reach