Stefanos Tsitsipas suffers shock first-round loss to Daniel Galán at US Open
The second-seeded Tsitsipas fell to the qualifier Galán, 5-7, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0, in what was his second loss in five sets to the Mexican on Thursday.
The World No. 6 had to work hard to break Tsitsipas down, especially on serves, as Galán earned the first break.
It was Tsitsipas’s first win against the former No. 1 player in the world.
Tsitsipas and his opponent went to the third set down on Thursday after Tsitsipas gave Tsitskow, who has not lost since turning pro in 2014, a run of only 12 aces in his last 2 matches.
This was not the first time the Argentinean had been beaten by a Mexican player at a major tournament. In the 2017 French Open, Dominic Thiem beat Viktor Troicki of Belarus in the second round in a match that lasted just 75 minutes.
Tsitsipas, who is ranked No. 12 in the world and won the Paris Masters this year, had been a favourite going into this match. He has two wins in the season opener, in Barcelona and Rome, on the way to three straight wins as the top seed at the year-end ATP World Tour Finals.
He was also the heavy favourite for this year’s Australian Open, but had to wait on a draw to progress. Now, having won the Paris Masters in August, he can face higher-ranked players in the tournament, with another top-10 play.
The last time a European beat a Mexican at a major event, in the 2009 BNP Paribas Open, Galán was the 12th seed at the event. He had beaten Kevin Anderson in three sets, 7-6(7) 6-3, 7-6(7) before losing to eventual