Greek tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas channeled his inner Rod Laver to outlast brave Janik Sinner and reach the Australian Open quarterfinals at Rod Laver Arena on Sunday night I got
The No. 3 seed nearly allowed a two-set lead in a blockbuster 16th-round match against the Italian but recovered in an epic fifth set to move one step closer to a landmark Grand Slam win. rice field.
Watch the video above: Stefanos Tsitsipas’ win pays tribute to Rod Laver after an epic five-set win.
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After an almost four-hour marathon, an exhausted Tsitsipas paid tribute to Laver.
“It was a long game. I feel like I spent a whole century playing tennis on this court,” said Tsitsipas.
“It felt so long. It was a great night.
“We are here together and I am really excited to share moments like this, especially on the Australian court. I am trying to do my best but it is not easy. had an incredible opponent and played incredible tennis in the 3rd and 4th sets.
“(I was) really calm, like Rod Laver used to be. increase.
“It’s something I’ve never done before and from the moment I made this minor tweak, it completely changed the way I approached this match.
“Thanks to that, I was able to provide the service until the end without being too nervous.
“I can feel my face burning from today’s effort. I may have to jump into the Yarra River for a little while.”
When the camera switched to him, Raver looked flabbergasted and emotional, and the standing crowd gave him a long round of applause.
The third-seeded Tsitsipas, who has reached the semi-finals at Melbourne Park in his last two appearances, looked cruising against Sinner as he won the first two sets on Sunday night.
But the Italian, who recovered from two set downs for the first time to win in his third-round victory over Marton Fuksovich, was not going to lie down.
He leveled the match in two sets before Tsitsipas improved his serve and stabilized to win the four-hour battle 6-4 6-4 3-6 4-6 6-3 at Rod Laver Arena. bottom.
Tsitsipas, known for taking tactical toilet breaks, went down the tunnel after dropping the third set.
It didn’t stop Sinner’s momentum, but an adjustment to Greece’s serve in the fifth set turned the tide back in his direction.
Tsitsipas made 92% of his first serves in the fifth set and scored 79% of his points.
“I had an incredible opponent on the other side of the court today and played great tennis in the third and fourth sets,” Tsitsipas said.
Tsitsipas has lost just one game after winning the first two sets. This was his only match in a Grand Slam final, with Novak his 2021 French Open decider against Djokovic.
The 24-year-old will face unseeded Czech Jiri Leheczka, who has never made it past the first round of a Grand Slam.
But Tsitsipas will be wary of world No. 71, who has already overturned three seeds on the way to the last eight.
– Use AAP
