STEFANOS Tsitsipas of Greece defeated the Philippines' AJ Lim, 6-2, 6-1, on Friday at the start of their Davis Cup World Group II playoff at the Philippine Columbian Association (PCA) courts in Paco, Manila.
Tsitsipas entered the match the overwhelming favorite and that was exactly what the world No. 6-ranked netter looked as he totally dominated the local hope in the PCA's shell courts.
Lim showed flashes of brilliance, but Tsitsipas proved much too good to get Greece to a 1-0 start in the best-of-five tie against the hosts.
Filipino tennis fans came in droves to see the world-ranked Greek netter who was fresh from a finals defeat to Novak Djokovic in Dubai.
“Things worked out pretty well. I think I played okay. It’s nice to get the win today,” said Tsitsipas in a packed press conference that had fans sneaking in for a chance to get a selfie or an autograph with the youngest player in the world Top 10.
Tsitsipas started out strong, winning four straight games including two breaks to open the first set. Lim prevented a love set when the Filipino netter finally held serve in the fifth game.
Lim held serve again in the second game of the second set, but Tsitsipas broke on the next game for a 2-1 lead. After giving up the first point of the fourth game, Tsitsipas won the next four points for a commanding 3-1 lead.
Errors also compounded the woes of Lim, who admitted getting nervous in the match against the world-rated player.
“I knew it’s going to be really, really hard to get a game against him. He was just unreal,” said Lim.
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