Stefanos Tsitsipas enjoying ‘being creative on court’ after reaching Madrid semi’s
World number five Stefanos Tsitsipas has battled through to the semi-finals in Madrid as he claimed a hard-fought three set victory over Russia’s Andrey Rublev.
The Greek number one romped to a first set lead with some precise and powerful serving and hitting to take a 4-1 lead.
However Rublev, dug deep and used his typical grit and determination to battle back, playing aggressive tennis to stay in touch with Tsitsipas.
Yet, the 2022 Monte Carlo Masters champion was able to withstand any pressure and continued his exceptional serving game to take the first set 6-3.
Andrey Rublev, who arrived in Madrid fresh from beating Novak Djokovic in the final of the Serbia Open, rediscovered his top form in the second set as he was the first to break serve to take a 4-2 lead.
Rublev continued his purple patch as he would break the world number five’s serve once more and hold is own to take the second set 6-2 and equal the match.
The third set was a very tight encounter with both players going toe-to-toe until Stefanos Tsitsipas picked his moment to break to love, take a 5-4 lead and give himself the chance to serve his way to the semi-final.
Despite a wobble in the final game, with the 23-year-old allowing two break points to his opponent, Tsitsipas rallied and was able to save them both before fighting through to take the win.
Discussing his victory post-match, Stefanos Tsitsipas said he was happy with the performance especially with how aggressive and creative he was on the court.
“I’m feeling great to be honest. I really hope it can continue that way. It feels great playing so aggressive and being creative on the court.
“He was really playing a lot of force into the strokes. It wasn’t easy predicting what was going to come next.
“Never easy playing him. Had to really survive that last game, and put my best strength and give out my soul to finish it in such a good way.”
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