Stefanos Tsitsipas paid tribute to the great Rod Laver after edging out Jannik Sinner in an Australian Open thriller on Rod Laver Arena.
Tsitsipas, seeded at No 3, defeated 15th-seeded Sinner 6-4 6-4 3-6 4-6 6-3 to reach the Australian Open quarterfinal.
The match lasted just over four hours and Tsitsipas managed to prevent Sinner in his bid to complete a big comeback.
“I felt like I spent an entire century on this court playing. It felt so long. What a great night. That was superb, a ripper as they say here. I had an unbelievable opponent on the other side of the court playing incredible tennis in the third and fourth set. Stayed really calm, just like Mr. Rod Laver used to do in his day,” Tsitsipas said in his on-court interview, per the Australian Open website.
How Tsitsipas defeated Sinner
Tsitsipas broke Sinner in the very first game of the match, but the Italian broke back in the eighth game to tie the first set to four games apiece.
After blowing an early break, Tsitsipas broke Sinner again in the ninth game and served out for the first set in the following game.
The same exact thing happened in the second set as Tsitsipas blew an early break and then broke Sinner again in the ninth game before serving out for the set in the next game.
Down by two sets, Sinner broke Tsitsipas in the fourth game of the third set and then held on to his serve the rest of the set to force a fourth set.
In the fourth set, Sinner broke Tsitsipas in the third game and that one break was enough for him to win the fourth set and send the match into a decider.
After losing the third and fourth sets, Tsitsipas claimed the first break of the fifth set in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead.
Up by a break, Tsitsipas held on to his serve the rest of the match to seal a five-set win.
Tsitsipas plays next against Jiri Lehecka.