ATP
Australian Open Men’s Day 7
Greek third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas struggled into his fourth quarter-final at the Australian Open on Sunday as he battled to hold off hard-charging Jannik Sinner 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3.
The epic which ended with midnight approaching lasted for just over four hours, with Tsitsipas relieved to get the win on his first match point with a return winner.
Sinner was bidding for a second straight comeback from two sets to love down after clocking the first of his career 48 hours earlier over Marton Fucsovics.
Tsitsipas said he had an incredibly hard slog to go through.
“It was such a long match – I felt I played for a century out here. But what a great night.
“It was superb – a ripper as you say here. I had an unbelievable opponent on the other side of the court.
“He played incredible tennis in the third and fourth sets. I stayed really calm, I can feel my face burning from all the effort I put in today.”
Sinner trailed a break in each of the first two sets, winning both back but dropping serve again to end up with a two-sets-to-love deficit after an hour and a half of play.
The Italian broke through to claim the third set on a fourth set point and kept up his comeback momentum through to level at two sets each.
Tsitsipas was able to squeeze through the final set, ending with 48 winners to the 54 of his opponent. .
Sinner’s weakness against Top 5 players was again in evidence, with the Italian suffering his seventh loss to the elite at a Grand Slam without a victory to show.
Canadian interest was ended by rising Czech Jiri Lehecka, who beat sixth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(2), 7-6(3) fightback lasting for three and a quarter hours.
The 21-year-old winner withstood 20 aces from FAA and broke the Canadian only once on his way to the win.
“It’s been tough, a tough week for me, to be honest. I gave everything I had,” the Canadian said.
“I had some good moments. The first set was good. I was serving well today.
“But too many parts of my game were not at the level they need to be in order to win against players like him and the other players in the draw.”
He added: “It’s okay, it’s how it is. I’m proud of my effort. I gave everything. But my level isn’t where I want it to be.”
Sebastien Korda’s family tennis pedigree came to the fore as the son of 1998 Melbourne winner Petr Korda booked his first quarter-final at a major 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 1-6, 7-6(10-7) over Hubert Hurkacz.
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Korda, who has installed a new coaching team which includes former Wimbledon quarter-finalist Radek Stepanek, credited staying calm under pressure for his success.
“I wasn’t feeling too much energy in the fourth and fifth sets, but the crowd pushed me through,” said the player who knocked out former No. 1 Daniil Medvedev in the third round.
“I tried to stay as calm as I could, I stayed down and kept going through. The outcome was great.
“There were plenty of times I could have completely lost it, but I hung in and tried to be as positive as possible – that was my only goal in the final set.”
Karen Khachanov completed his career matched set of Grand Slam quarter-finals with a 6-0, 6-0, 7-6(4) defeat of Yoshihito Nishikoa, adding to his previous last-eight spots at Roland Garros (2019), Wimbledon (2021) and the
US Open (2022).
Khachanov, who won 14 games in a row before his Japanese opponent was able to trouble the scorer, is one of only 10 players to have reached all four Grand Slam quarters.
“I was not thinking about it, but that is some kind of compliments, what I achieve so far.
“I’m just happy to do it. Hopefully I can continue even further on even bigger things.”
Holger Rune battled past injured Carlos Alcaraz to spoil the Spanish Easter party at the Barcelona Open, with the Dane lifting the trophy 7-6 (6), 6-2.
The pair of 21-year-olds were familiar foes, having played 20 times in juniors before hitting the Tour; Rune won the first 500 series title of his career and his fifth overall.
Alcaraz was treated three times in the second set after an apparent injury to his upper right thigh/groin after duelling hard in the opening set at the Real Club.
The loss will send Alcaraz back to third in the rankings, with Alexander Zverev moving back to second behind Jannik Sinner as a result of winning the Munich title on Sunday.
Rune, a first-round victim last week in Monte Carlo, reversed his clay momentum in Spain, handing Alcaraz a first loss of a set for the week.
The Spanish top seed’s two final shots both clipped the top of the net and fell back as Rune raised his hands in celebration after 97 minutes on court in the Catalan capital.
“This means the world,” the winner said. “I started the match stressed, he was playing big-time tennis.
“I was able to find my rhythm after he broke me (3-2 in the opening set) and I got more into the match.
“The first set was a big battle with a lot of important points. It was super-important to win the set and gain momentum.
“I’m so proud of myself.”
Rune ended with 18 winners while the ailing Alcaraz produced 33 unforced errors. The Dane claimed his 50th match win on clay and levelled his Tour record in the series to 2-2.
Rune said he channeled Novak Djokovic’s Paris Olympic gold medal win from last summer over Alcaraz as he struggled to turn his game around in Barcelona.
“I asked myself what Novak did to win that final. I (realised) that I didn’t need to hit every ball on the line. I need to make him play and hit a lot of balls.”
Rune, who won the elite Paris Bercy Masters 1000 title in 2022, finally began reversing a 13-match loss streak against top five opponents.with his title victory.
Alcaraz may be racing for fitness with the Madrid Masters starting on Wednesday as the ATP ploughs ahead with an unpopular two-week format for Masters tournaments despite growing protest from exhausted players.
Main photo:- Holger Rune celebrates Barcelona win – by ATPTour.com
Alexander Zverev turned 28 on Sunday and awarded himself a third title on his home Munich clay as he beat Ben Shelton 6-2,6-4 to win the ATP event.
The 2017 and 2018 champion here is now threatening Carlos Alcaraz as the pair duel for the world No. 2 position which the Spaniard took over last week after winning Monte Carlo.
Zverev schooled lefthander Shelton in 70 minutes for a second win in their series. The winner becomes the second to hold three Munich titles after countryman Philipp Kohlschreiber (2007, 2012, 2016).
“I’m enjoying my birthday so far,” Zverev said. “It’s extremely special to win in Germany, the most special thing I can do.
January’s Australian Open finalist added: “It’s definitely a great birthday present, I knew I had to play my best today, conditions were very hot and very fast.They were perfect for me.”
The winner broke three times while never facing a challenge to his serve from Shelton as he claimed a sixth career title at the 500-Tour level.
Main photo:- Alexander Zverev with his “birthday” trophy – by BMW Open/Bitpanda
Alexander Zverev gave fans in Munich what they were after as the top seed rolled into the final of the clay ATP in Bavaria with a 7-6 (3), 6-3 defeat of Fabian Marozsan.
World No. 3 Zverev, who won the titles in 2017 and 2018 needed 91 minutes to advance into a title match with Ben Shelton.
The American earned his spot with a .2-6, 7-6 (7), 6-4 defeat of Argentine Francisco Cerundolo.
Zverev advanced with nine aces and broke twice in the tidy win over his Hungarian opposition.
“It’s awesome. The entire week has been great. Everybody is really enjoying the weather as well as the new Center Court,” the winner said. .
“I’m enjoying myself and hopefully I will have another great day tomorrow.”
Shelton reached his fourth career final, becoming the first American man to reach a clay final above ATP 250 level since Andre Agassi won the Rome Masters 23 years ago.
“It’s a big win for me. To get a win on clay against a guy like him gives me a lot of confidence,” Shelton.
“I’m really happy and excited to be in a 500-level final in Europe, my second clay-court tournament this season.
“I’ve been playing well this week and I’m not too stressed right now.”
Main photo:-Alexander Zverev winning in front of his home crowd – by ATPTour.com
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