Nikoloz Basilashvili stuns Stefanos Tsitsipas in Indian Wells

Friday, 15 October 2021 at 22:25

Nikoloz Basilasvili defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in a very entertaining 3-set match at the BNP Paribas Open Indian Wells to move to the semifinal.

It was a very entertaining match in the Californian desert city of Indian Wells as Nikoloz Basilashvili ousted Stefanos Tsitsipas. The Georgian player came in very focused in the match hitting great shots with his forehand and backhand. Tsitsipas had trouble finding a counter to that sort of style early as most of his shots were misfiring.

Tsitsipas has struggled all week long barely fighting his way past several opponents in the previous rounds. Today was no different with the Greek simply not having his best at the start. He got broken fairly early and the Georgian added another break on top of that. Tsitsipas pulled one back but the damage was done and it was 6-4 for Basilashvili.

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The 2nd set was played much better by Tsitsipas who finally found some of his game. The Greek covered the court much better and he better anticipated what Basilashvili wanted to do. That along with a dropoff from Basilashvili allowed him to win the 2nd set relatively easily with 6-2. The start of the 3rd set was not played well by Tsitsipas who fell behind early but also found a way to pull it back.

He took a 3-2 lead but after that, his game kind of fell apart a bit and Basilashvili was able to take advantage of that taking a 5-3 lead. In the end, Basilashvili closed it out with 6-4 after another great performance. The Georgian simply won this match as the Greek never found a counter to his overpowering baseline game. Basilashvili also exhibited patience which is not a staple in his game but it worked against Tsitsipas who did not have his best.

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Never won IW main draw match ➡️ semis Basilashvili turns his desert fortunes around, battling past Tsitsipas 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 for a first career Masters 1000 final four. #BNPPO21