2 things that stood out in Stefanos Tsitsipas' 2R win over Rinky Hijikata at Shanghai Masters

Fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece beat Rinky Hijikata of Australia 6-4, 6-2 in the second round of the Shanghai Masters on Saturday, October 7. The match lasted for less than two hours, as the 24-year-old Greek won at a canter to qualify for the third round.

Tsitsipas has had an indifferent 2023 so far, and should be thirsty for some success in a big tournament. He looked in good form on Saturday and should prove to be a formidable proposition for his next opponent, too. It remains to be seen how deep he is able to go in this tournament.

On that note, let us take a look at two things that stood from Tsitsipas' win over Hijikata in the Shanghai Masters.

#1. Tsitsipas dominated with his forehand:

Tsitsipas dominated with his serve and forehand throughout the match. The Greek won a lot of points with his forehand from the forecourt and mid-court to keep punishing the Australian. Tsitsipas broke Hijikata in the seventh game of the first set to take a 4-3 lead, but the latter then broke back to level the score.

However, the 25-year-old then broke Hijikata once again, as the latter committed a double fault on break point. Tsitsipas then served out the set quite easily to draw first blood and take a crucial 1-0 lead. It was always going to be difficult for Hijikata to stage a comeback from there.

#2. Hijikata lacked the firepower to trouble Tsitsipas:

Hijikata failed to hit his groundstrokes with enough venom, and thereby, was not able to push Tsitsipas behind the baseline on most occasions. The Australian’s crosscourt backhand lacked power, and hence, could not put enough pressure on Tsitsipas' backhand.

As a result, Tsitsipas did not face much trouble in dictating terms with his forehand and did not have to be on the defensive for much of the time. Hijikata’s serve was also not powerful enough and he was broken four times in the match.

Tsitsipas won 76% of the points on his first serve in the match, while Hijikata managed only 52% - which was big enough a difference to decide the course of the match. Tsitsipas fared better with his second serve too, winning 57% of the points on it against Hijikata’s 50%.

Overall, the Greek was the superior and more powerful of the two players in almost every respect and did not have much trouble overcoming the Australian.