Stefanos Tsitsipas reaches fourth Australian Open semifinal
ATP
Stefanos Tsitsipas will play in the Australian Open semi-finals once again after he defeated Jiri Lehecka in the quarter-final of the tournament.
The 24-year-old Greek player started the 2023 season well already during the off-season. He won the Mubadala World Tennis Championship and never lost a match since.
Tsitsipas defeated Grigor Dimitrov, David Goffin, Borna Coric, and Matteo Berrettini at the United Cup, and he continues the winning streak also in Melbourne.
After beating Quentin Halys, Rinky Hijikata, Tallon Griekspoor, and Jannik Sinner, he took on Jiri Lehecka, who played his first quarter-final match at a Grand Slam.
The Greek started well when he broke his opponent's serve already in the second game and kept his advantage throughout the set to win it 6-3 in just 37 minutes.
He hit 70% of his serves in the opening set and won 84% of rallies while doing so, which helped him avoid facing any break points in the first set of the match. The second set was much closer.
The Czech player had five break points, but he couldn't use any of those, and so the set was decided in a tie-break. The ATP World No. 4 player prevailed once again, winning it 7-2.
Lehecka had his chances in the third set again, having three break points in the seventh game. But once again, Tsitsipas saved all of them. Only a few games later, he showed his opponent how efficiency matters.
Tsitsipas used his only break point in the third set when his opponent was serving to stay in the match. Three Greek player won the match in three sets, 6-3, 7-6(2), 6-4, and set up a semi-final clash with Karen Khachanov.
After the match, he was naturally happy about leaving it as a winner. At the same time, he was able to praise his opponent, recognizing Lehecka's great tournament.
"It felt different this time from any other match, but the most important thing, in the end, is that I found a solution. I think Jiri had a very good tournament, and I wish him the very best."
