- Alexander Ritschard showed a very fine performance in his Grand Slam premiere against Stefanos Tsitsipas, but had to bow in the 1st round in Wimbledon 6: 7 (1: 7), 3: 6, 7: 5, 4: 6 .
- The Zurich native showed no false shyness on Court 1 and delighted the audience.
- After Ritschard’s out, only Viktorija Golubic remained in the tournament from the original eight Swiss players.
The end was a bit inglorious and didn’t do justice to the game and especially Alexander Ritschard’s performance on Court 1: With two double mistakes and a simple mistake on the match point, Zurich Grand Slam debutant Stefanos Tsitsipas practically gave the last game. So the Greek, number 5 in the world and recently winner of the lawn in Mallorca, got away with a black eye.
Because Ritschard had gotten Tsitsipas into trouble several times with his fearless and attacking game. This was also the case in the 4th set, which number 188 in the world opened with a break. But the Swiss couldn’t keep the lead and ultimately couldn’t force a 5th round.
Played big without fear
Ritschard got off to a brilliant start in the first set and, thanks to a double break, played a 4-1 lead. But the 28-year-old qualifier couldn’t maintain this lead. He had to go into the tiebreak, where the favorite from Greece clearly prevailed.
After Ritschard had to be broken twice in the second set and lost it 3:6, his best phase followed. With crashing forehand shots, precise services and soulful volleys, he made Tsitsipas despair in the 3rd round. When the score was 5:5, Ritschard took the serve from his opponent and a short time later brought his 1st set win at Grand Slam level into the dry.
Even if it wasn’t enough for a really big coup afterwards, Ritschard certainly won over one or the other fan on Church Road on Tuesday evening.
Seven out in one fell swoop
After Ritschard’s out, the Swiss first-round record at Wimbledon looks very bleak. As gratifying as the total of eight Swiss players in the main draw were, Viktorija Golubic is the only player in the second round. While some defeats had to be expected, Belinda Bencic’s early exit hurt a lot.