Between two matches played against Rafael Nadal at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, we saw Stefanos Tsitsipas grow up. Two years ago, he ...
Between two matches played against Rafael Nadal at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, we saw Stefanos Tsitsipas grow up.
Two years ago, he had his big-ticket breakthrough moment as he stunned Roger Federer at the 2019 Australian Open, to reach his first ever Grand Slam quarter-final. But when the 20-year-old went up against the Spaniard in the semi-final that year, the then 14th seed emerged from that match looking shell-shocked after a straight sets defeat, complete with the bagel in the third set.
In 2021, they met again. This time, a quarter-final. Nadal was still the world No 2 but Tsitsipas was now the fifth seed and a player who has lived through the knife-edge that best-of-five tennis. And this time, the Greek maverick became just the third man in history to beat Nadal from two sets down.
Tsitsipas sensationally reached the semi-final again with an intensely-fought 3-6, 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-4, 7-5 win.
It was a match to remember for all the classic reasons: the tennis and tenacity, the fight and the flair that both competitors showed. But the biggest takeaway from the four-hour-five-minute battle was how the 22-year-old won with his belief as much as his ball-striking, a balance that has not often been easy to achieve....
