Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas is a step nearer to a breakthrough grand slam title after surviving an enormous comeback from Jannik Sinner to advance to the Australian Open quarter-finals with a “ripper” win.
A semi-finalist at Melbourne Park in his final two appearances, third seed Tsitsipas appeared to be cruising in opposition to Sinner when he claimed the primary two units on Sunday night time.
But the Italian, who recovered to win from two units down for the primary time in his third-round overcome Marton Fucsovics, wasn’t going to lie down.
He levelled the match at two units all earlier than Tsitsipas improved his serve and steadied to win the four-hour battle 6-4 6-4 3-6 4-6 6-3 at Rod Laver Arena.
“It was a long match. I felt like I spent an entire century on this court playing tennis,” a relieved Tsitsipas stated.
“It felt so long, I mean, what a great night. That was superb, a ‘ripper’ as they say here.”
Known for taking tactical bathroom breaks, Tsitsipas headed down the tunnel after dropping the third set.
It did not halt Sinner’s momentum however an adjustment to the Greek’s serve within the fifth set turned the tide again his manner.
Tsitsipas landed 92 per cent of first serves within the fifth set and received 79 per cent of these factors.
“I had an unbelievable opponent on the other side of the court today playing incredible tennis in the third and fourth sets,” Tsitsipas stated.
“I stayed really calm … I released my arm a little bit, released my wrist on the serve, and I think that helped me a lot to generate more power and accuracy.
“It’s one thing that I wasn’t doing earlier than and it utterly modified the best way I approached this match since that second once I did this minor adjustment.
“That helped me serve it out pretty well towards the end without being too tense.
“I’m completely satisfied I figured it out.”
Tsitsipas has only lost one match after winning the first two sets. That was in his only grand slam final appearance – the 2021 French Open decider against Novak Djokovic.
The 24-year-old next meets unseeded Czech Jiri Lehecka, who has never previously been past the first round at a grand slam.
But Tsitsipas will likely be cautious of the world No.71, who has already toppled three seeds on his path to the final eight.
