Stefanos Tsitsipas overcome a very inspired effort from
Taylor Fritz to defeat the American 4-6 6-4 4-6 6-3 6-4 and move on to the quarterfinals.
It was a brilliant match by both players that ultimately came down to Tsitsipas and his fighting spirit which is well known in the world of tennis. Comeback wins for the Greek have been a signature especially in Australia where he came back to win against Rafael Nadal before as well. This time around the deficit was never that dramatic but on the opposite side, he had a very inspired American who was playing great.
Fritz produced a high effort that was highlighted by very smart play that featured not a lot of winners but very few unforced errors. He served well for the majority of the match and that allowed him to keep things rather simple. Tsitsipas did not return well but he fought like a lion and that fighting spirit ultimately proved crucial.
The first set was won by Fritz after exploiting the Greek's 2nd serve. He won 7 of 10 of those points which proved enough to break him once. In the 2nd set, Tsitsipas upped his serving percentage and that proved key to keeping the American away from break points. In the 3rd his Fritz played a clean set with 13 winners and 3 errors exploiting the Greek's 2nd serve once more.
The 4th set was won by persistent play by the Greek who opted for a more aggressive approach that worked. He also saved two break points which he faced and that was crucial. In the final set, nobody had any chances until very late in the match. Tsitsipas carved out some break points late after some misses by Frit and he was able to convert it.