MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas will be hoping it is third time lucky in an Australian Open semifinal after his scintillating 6-3 6-4 6-2 victory against Jannik Sinner in the last eight on Wednesday at Rod Laver Arena.
The fourth seed, a semifinalist in Melbourne in 2019 and 2021, was stretched to five sets by Taylor Fritz on Monday but showed no signs of fatigue in a match that started in blazing sunshine but finished under the roof after a storm hit.
With Melbourne’s big Greek population, Tsitsipas has always drawn strong support at the Australian Open and it was the same again in the clash against Sinner.
A finalist at Roland Garros last year, Tsitsipas was troubled by elbow problems at the end of last season and was concerned he might not be able to play in Australia.
“I am pretty sure my doctor is watching right now. He has been sending me texts after every single game,” he said.
“He said ‘I don’t expect to see you playing in Australia’. But I proved him wrong. I am happy I have found the right man to bring me back even stronger.”