PARIS -- Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 2021 runner-up, overcame a two-set deficit against Lorenzo Musetti to advance to the second round at Roland Garros - a year after blowing a two-set lead in the final against Novak Djokovic.
Tsitsipas needed more than 3 1/2 hours to turn things around and get past Musetti 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 at Court Philippe Chatrier as the calendar flipped from Tuesday to Wednesday and the temperature dipped to about 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 Celsius).
The fourth-seeded Tsitsipas has not lost in the first round of the French Open since his debut in 2017. Since then, the 23-year-old from Greece has progressed further each year, getting to the second round in 2018, the fourth in 2019, the semifinals in 2020, and then losing the title match to Djokovic in five sets a year ago.
Musetti, a 20-year-old from Italy ranked 66th, also took a two-sets-to-none lead against Djokovic in last year’s French Open before stopping in the fifth set of their fourth-round match because of injury.
