Tsitsipas after his win against Thompson: "I didn't know what to expect from him"

Stefanos Tsitsipas is one of three players already qualified for the round of 16 at the Monte-Carlo Masters 1000, alongside Jack Draper and Matteo Berrettini.

The Greek, defending champion and winner of three of the last four editions on the Monegasque clay, had a bit of a scare but ultimately overcame Jordan Thompson (4-6, 6-4, 6-2).

He will face Nuno Borges or Pedro Martinez for a spot in the quarterfinals. After the match, Tsitsipas reflected on his hard-fought victory and admitted he needed several games to truly settle into the match.

"I didn’t really know what to expect from him. He played a strong first set, not giving me much to work with.

I tried to find something that would bring consistency back to my game. I worked on my serve because I felt that was the area that hurt me the most early in the match.

Once I felt it was more consistent, I tried to focus on my return. I’ve had success returning deep from the baseline in some matches, but today it didn’t work.

So I had to rely on returns closer to the line, and that seemed to work better," analyzed Tsitsipas, the world No. 8, for Tennis Majors after his qualification.