( Stefanos Tsitsipas & Daniil Medvedev)
Speed Post News Network
Patna : In a stunning comeback from two sets down, 5th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, 22, Greece, beat 2nd seed and winner of record equalling 20 Grand Slam singles titles Rafael Nadal, 34, Spain, in quarter-finals at Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Park, Australia, on February 17, 2021, to reach the semi-finals of Australian Open (AO) 2021. He will face 4th seed Daniil Medvedev, 24, Russia, who defeated compatriot and 7th seed Andrey Rublev, 23, in straight sets in quarter-finals at Rod Laver Arena. Tsitsipas and Medvedev will clash in SFs on February 19, 2021.
2009 AO Champion Nadal had raced to a two-set lead breaking Tsitsipas’ service once in first set and twice in second set. Tsitsipas, however, won the third set in tiebreak to make it 2-1. The 4th set went up to 4-4 but then Tsitsipas broke Nadal’s service in 9th game and then held his own serve to win the 4th set to make it 2-2. The 5th set was also a see-saw battle and was level at 5-5 but Tsitsipas broke Nadal’s service in 11th game and then held his service to win the match.
Tsitsipas fired 17 Aces in the match to 15 by the S;painiard. Nadal also committed 2 double faults. Nadal, incidentally, won 3 break points to 2 by Tsitsipas. Nadal also won 5 games in a row to 3 by the Greek. Tsitsipas, in all, won 145 points during the match to 142 points by Nadal. Nadal had also lost in the QFs of AO 2020 to Dominic Thiem, 27, Austria, in four sets. Nadal, however, still leads Tsitsipas 6-2 Head to Head.
World No 4 Medvedev beat Rublev 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 in QFs completely dominating the match. Medvedev won 5 break points in the match to just 1 by Rublev. Medvedev fired 14 Aces in the match to 8 by Ruble. Medvedev won 7 games in a row during the match to 2 by Rublev. Medvedev won 97 points during the match to 78 by Rublev.