Stefanos Tsitsipas survives Rafael Nadal 3-6 2-6 7-6(4) 6-4 7-5 in the quarter in Melbourne on Wednesday after conquering a huge battle recovering from 2 sets down. The Greek sensation looked completely done when he suddenly won the 3rd set at the breaker. Still, the odds were very much for Nadal until Stefanos broke the King of Clay in the 9th game of the 4th set before bringing the affair to the decider. At that point, everything became a war of attrition, and once again, a late break in the 11th game was decisive for the world no.6.
This is the second time that Stefanos reaches the semifinal at the Australian Open after 2019. That year he beat Roger Federer in the 4th round, but Nadal literally disintegrated him in the final 4. It seemed that the story was about to repeat itself this year, but Stefanos had a completely different idea.
Tsitsipas will try to keep the momentum against Daniil Medvedev in the semifinal.
Tsitsipas added to his prize money $ 325,000 after winning this match. He has won already $ 850,000 till now in this tournament. If he wins the next match, Tsitsipas will add $ 650,000 to his earnings to get in total $ 1,500,000.
Tsitsipas was delighted about the outcome. He commented:
“I’m speechless, I have no words to describe what just happened. It’s an unbelievable feeling to be able to fight at such a level and give my all on court.
I started very nervous but I don’t know what happened after the third set. I flew like a little bird. Everything was working for me and the emotions are indescribable. I’m really happy with the attitude I showed on court.”
Highlights Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Rafael Nadal Australian Open – Melbourne
Tsitsipas’s Interview
Stats: aces, double faults, breaks, winners
6-4 7-5
4h:05
After this contest, the head to head between Tsitsipas and Nadal is 2-6 for Rafael.
Draw and next match H2H: Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Daniil Medvedev – stats
Tsitsipas will compete against Medvedev in the semifinal.
This will be the 7th time that Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev square off. The head to head is 5-1 for Medvedev (see full H2H stats), 3-0 on hard.
Live score progression and stats
There was not much difference between the 2 players in this set with the exception of 1 break that the Spaniard clinched in the 8th game (5-3) prior to ultimately winning the set (6-3).
Rafael was clinical in converting the only break point that he conquered in the 8th game (4-3 30-40). On the other side, Nadal didn’t concede a single break point during this set.
They played 48 points. Nadal conquered the set after winning 4 more points than Tsitsipas (26-22). Rafael conceded 8 points on serve (20-8). In addition, on the other side, Tsitsipas conceded 6 points on serve (14-6).
Medvedev came out strong at the beginning of the set after breaking Tsitsipas in the 1st game (1-0). The Spaniard managed to boost his lead after breaking Stefanos in the 5th (4-1) game before winning the set (6-2).
Rafael was flawless in converting all his break points in the 1st (0-0 30-40) and the 5th game (3-1 40-A). On the other side, Nadal didn’t concede a single break point during this set.
They played 42 points. Rafael was the one to win the set after conquering 8 more points than Tsitsipas (25-17). Rafael was extremely solid on serve to concede just 4 points (16-4). Regarding the other side of the net, the Greek conceded 9 points on serve (13-9).
Nothing could divide these 2 players in this set and therefore the pair went to fight for it in the breaker. Eventually, Stefanos won the tiebreak at 7-4.
Tiebreak
Stefanos won 3 minibreaks in the 2nd (1-1), 7th (4-3) and 11th (7-4) point. On the other side, Nadal won a minibreak in the 1st (1-0) point.
This was the tiebreak sequence: 0-1, 1-1, 1-2, 2-2, 3-2, 3-3, 4-3, 5-3, 6-3, 6-4, 7-4
They played 64 points. Tsitsipas won 4 points more than Rafael (34-30). Tsitsipas was extremely solid on serve to concede just 4 points (28-4). Regarding the other side of the net, the Spaniard conceded 6 points on serve (26-6).
There was not much difference between the 2 players in this set with the exception of 1 break that the Greek snatched in the 9th game (5-4) before ultimately winning the set (6-4).
The Greek converted 25% of his break points (1/4). He had 4 break points opportunities in the 1st (0-0 30-40), the 5th (2-2 15-40 and 30-40) and the 9th game (4-4 40-A). On the other side, the Greek didn’t concede a single break point during this set.
They played 67 points. Tsitsipas won 7 more points than Rafael (37-30). Stefanos conceded 5 points on serve (20-5). On the losing side, Nadal conceded 17 points on serve (25-17).
The 5th set random the deciding set was a thriller.
Stefanos won the set after he broke Nadal in the 4th (2-2) and in the 11th (6-5) game.
Tsitsipas was clinical in converting the only break point that he conquered in the 11th game (5-5 0-40). In addition on the other side, Rafael was clinical in converting the only break point that he conquered in the 12th game (5-6 40-A).
They played 67 points. Stefanos conquered the set after winning 7 more points than Nadal (37-30). Tsitsipas conceded 10 points on serve (27-10). On the losing side, the Spaniard conceded 10 points on serve (20-10).
Tennis Scores at the Australian Open
- Stefanos TsitsipasTsitsipas – Rafael NadalNadal (3-6 2-6 7-64 6-4 7-5) – Stats and score progression
- Daniil MedvedevMedvedev – Andrey RublevRublev (7-5 6-3 6-2) – Stats and score progression
- Novak DjokovicDjokovic – Alexander ZverevZverev (6-76 6-2 6-4 7-66) – Stats and score progression
- Aslan KaratsevKaratsev – Grigor DimitrovDimitrov (2-6 6-4 6-1 6-2) – Stats and score progression
Upcoming matches
- Novak DjokovicDjokovic – Aslan KaratsevKaratsev (0-0) – H2H details and stats
- Daniil MedvedevMedvedev – Stefanos TsitsipasTsitsipas (5-1) – H2H details and stats
