Stefanos Tsitsipas survived a five-set, four-hour battle with Jannik Sinner to reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open where he will play unseeded Czech Jiri Lehecka I American Seb Korda following up his upset of Daniil Medvedev by knocking out 10th seed Hubert Hurkacz
Sunday 22 January 2023 13:04, UK
Third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas fended off Jannik Sinner in a five-set thriller to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals for the fourth time in his career.
A year after dumping Sinner out in the last eight at Melbourne Park, Greek star Tsitsipas crushed the Italian's hopes of a great escape as he held firm to complete a 6-4 6-4 3-6 4-6 6-3 victory on Rod Laver Arena.
"It was a long match," said a delighted Tsitsipas. "I felt like I played an entire century in this court. What a great night. That was superb. A ripper as they say here.
"I'm really excited to be sharing moments like this out on the court. It's not easy. I had an unbelievable opponent on the other side of the court playing incredible tennis in the third and fourth set. I stayed really calm."
Tsitsitas, the highest-ranked player remaining, dominated the first two sets, but the wheels began to come off in the third and Sinner roared back into the match to level things up.
Sinner, who lost an epic five-setter to Carlos Alcaraz in the US Open quarter-finals, seemed to have the momentum, but he lost his way at the wrong moment and Tsitsipas thrilled the many Greek fans packed into Rod Laver Arena by completing victory after exactly four hours.
The Greek, a semi-finalist in three of the last four years, will meet unseeded 21-year-old Czech Jiri Lehecka next.
Lehecka toppled sixth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-3) to reach the quarter-finals, as the exit of yet another big name left the Grand Slam thin on star power for its second week.
With holder Rafael Nadal and second seed Casper Ruud going out early, and other title hopefuls such as Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev also exiting, a path was clearing for Auger-Aliassime to go deep at Melbourne Park.
But he ran into an inspired Lehecka, who beat British No 1 Cameron Norrie in the previous round.
"The run is not over," Lehecka said. "All the guys I have beaten here are incredible and I've played my best tennis to show all the cards I have to beat them. It sounds crazy, but it's true and I'm happy to continue the journey.
"Honestly it feels amazing. It's tough to find words because of what we've been through in the last year and coming back after losing the first round (in 2022).
"If someone told me I would play like this I would not believe them."
American Seb Korda clawed his way past Poland's Hubert Hurkacz 3-6 6-3 6-2 1-6 7-6 (10-7) to make his first Grand Slam quarter-final.
After four unremarkable sets in which both struggled to find their best tennis, the contest finally hit boiling point in the fifth as the duo slugged it out from behind the baseline in a nerve-jangling finale that brought Rod Laver Arena to life.
The 22-year-old is bidding to follow in the footsteps of his father Petr 25 years after his title at Melbourne Park, while his sisters Jessica and Nelly have both won the Australian Open in golf.
While both Petr and Korda's mother Regina, who was also a professional tennis player, are very much involved in their son's career, neither is in Australia, with Korda being coached by former Czech player Radek Stepanek.
Korda said of his family: "They stayed up. My oldest sister, she's not playing this week. My other sister Nelly, I think she's second place right now playing in a tournament. I hope she's sleeping. I hope she didn't watch and she's getting ready for a big day today.
"I just got off the phone with them. They're going to try to go to bed. My dad's birthday tomorrow here. Early birthday present in a way."
Korda also counts Andre Agassi as a mentor and touched both his father's name and Agassi's on the walk of champions as he headed out to Rod Laver Arena.
"Every single time I walk by, I always give (them) a little fist pump," said Korda. "Kind of makes me feel like they're with me in a way. I always know that they're watching. They're both very special for me. They helped me a ton."
Russian Karen Khachanov cruised past Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka 6-0 6-0 7-6 (7-4).
The 18th seed won 14 straight games from the start of the match before Nishioka finally got on the board to avoid a triple bagel and salvaged some pride by taking Khachanov into a third-set tie-break.
Incredibly, 31st seed Nishioka won just two points in the second set.
