Third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas kept his unbeaten streak intact this year on Friday with another romp at the Australian Open to host a round of 16 with dangerous Italian Jannik Sinner. The 24-year-old, who has yet to drop a set, took his seventh win in a row of 2023 by beating Dutchman Tallon Fransespoor 6-2, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 at the Rod Laver Arena . the fourth round. With defending champion Rafael Nadal and world number three Casper Ruud both out, Tsitsipas, who won all four games in the United Cup leading up to the Grand Slam, is the highest seed remaining in the men’s standings.
His next assignment, for a place in the last eight, is to face 15th-seeded Sinner of Italy, who stormed back to beat Hungarian Marton Fucsovics 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 , 6-0.
It will be a rematch of their quarterfinal in Melbourne Park last year, which Tsitsipas won in straight sets.
“It was good mixing today, my piece, opening the field. I think my placement on the service was exceptional,” said Tsitsipas.
“I didn’t have many rallies on my serve today, which helped, and I just kept things clean. I enjoyed finding my way today, it wasn’t easy at times.”
Like Tsitsipas, the 63rd-ranked Greek track also entered the match undefeated, on a six-match streak after clinching a maiden Tour title in Pune, India.
But he was no match for the up-and-coming Greek, a three-time Melbourne Park semifinalist on the hunt for a maiden Grand Slam title.
The 24-year-old led the first set, breaking twice, dominating from the baseline and the net to push through in just 28 minutes.
But the Dutchman put up a harder fight in the second, earning a set point at 6-5 that Tsitsipas saved to take it to a tiebreak where he stayed calm to prevail.
Greek track’s determination melted and Tsitsipas broke for a 3-1 lead in the third set before racing home.
Six-time champion on the ATP Tour, Sinner kept his hopes alive with a sensational comeback against Fucsovics, who lost all confidence in the course of the match.
“The first two sets were really tough for me,” said Sinner, who enjoyed straight sets wins in his first two matches.
“Of course I had to change something about my game. I felt the ball well, but I missed the last shots. I did a lot of physical work in the off-season and today I was physically good in the last sets.”
(This story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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