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Stefanos Tsitsipas has survived a five-set thriller at Melbourne Park to book a place in the final eight of the Australian Open.
- The number three seed struggled against the consistent Italian after breezing through the opening two sets
- He said he tried to stay calm like Australian great Rod Laver who was watching in the crowd
- Tsitsipas will play unseeded 21-year-old Czech Jiri Lehecka in the quarterfinals
The number three seed from Greece found another gear when it counted to fend off Italy's Jannik Sinner in a rare win for the high seeds on Sunday.
A year after dumping Sinner out in the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park, third seed 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 at a heaving Rod Laver Arena.
Tsitsipas dominated for two sets before Sinner roared back into the match.
But Tsitsipas captured the decisive break in the sixth game of the decider before sealing it in style with a cross-court forehand winner in front of 84-year-old Laver, a three-time Australian Open champion.
"What a great night," Tsitsipas said after the match.
"I'm trying to do my best out here but it's tough. [Sinner] played incredible tennis in the third and fourth set.
"I stayed really calm just like Mr Rod Laver used to do in his day. I feel my face burning from the effort I put in today.
"I'll get a little bit technical here: I think I released my arm a bit, released my wrist on the serve, which helped me generate more power and improve my accuracy.
"It helped me serve it out pretty well towards the end. I'm happy I figured it out."
The three-times Australian Open semi-finalist will now meet unseeded 21-year-old Czech Jiri Lehecka for a place in the semi-finals.
Reuters