Stefanos Tsitsipas put a flawless performance to defeat Italian Jannik Sinner 6-3 6-4 6-2 on Wednesday and advance to his third Australian Open semifinal.
The Greek champion improves could face a rematch of last year’s Aussie Open semi-final against Daniil Medvedev, if the Russian beats Felix Auger-Aliassime later on Wednesday.
Statement made ‼️
🇬🇷 @steftsitsipas puts in a flawless performance to defeat Jannik Sinner 6-3 6-4 6-2 and advance to his third #AusOpen semifinal.#AO2022 pic.twitter.com/oEHvMtsDRB
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 26, 2022
After surviving an up-and-down five-setter against American No. 1 Taylor Fritz, the World No. 4 maintained an elite level throughout the two-hour, five-minute contest on Rod Laver Arena.
Tsitsipas, who won all four of his breakpoints, did his damage early in each set. On serve, he was pushed as far as deuce just once and never faced a breakpoint.
"I proved him wrong."
A message for Dr. Frank 😉
#AusOpen • #AO2022 • #Aointerview pic.twitter.com/q96QaQ2XAP
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 26, 2022
“Jannik is a very good player. So I tried to focus on my best shots and it paid off more than I thought,” Tsitsipas said in his on-court interview. “I am very, very happy with the way I served today and the way I came in and used my tactics in today’s match structure. Having the crowd support is truly unbelievable.”
Heavy rain forced a 20-minute delay as the roof was closed and the court dried.
“It is part of the game,” Tsitsipas said on the roof closing. “I knew I was heading towards the right direction with the game I managed to create from the start of the match. The conditions changed when the roof was closed, slightly faster. I tried to adapt to these new conditions and it just worked.”
Tsitsipas will now await the winner of the match between Medvedev and Auger-Aliassime—the night-session opener in Laver. The opposite men’s semi-final will see sixth seed Rafael Nadal take on Italy’s Matteo Berrettini, with both matches scheduled for Friday in Melbourne.
Tsitsipas hopes to go a step further in Australian Open this year
Tsitsipas hopes to go better than his previous performance at the Australian Open where he reached the semi-finals in 2021.
Tsitsipas started his 2021 Australian Open campaign with a comfortable straight sets win over Gilles Simon, before surviving a five-set thriller with Thanasi Kokkinakis.
He then beat Mikael Ymer in straight sets before being given over a walkover by an injured Matteo Berrettini.
In the quarterfinals, Tsitsipas became only the second player along with Fabio Fognini at the 2015 US Open to beat Rafael Nadal in a grand slam match from two sets to love down.
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