Stefanos Tsitsipas escapes Taylor Fritz in late-night Melbourne thriller

Stefanos Tsitsipas overcame an inspired Taylor Fritz, as well as a serious case of the Mondays, as he claimed a thrilling 4-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory to return to the quarterfinals at the Australian Open.

In a match full of momentum swings and displays of dazzling tennis, it was Tsitsipas who ultimately held his nerve in the pressure-filled moments over three hours and 23 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.

“An epic match, that’s what I can say. I gave everything out on the court today,” Tsitsipas said in an on-court interview. “I’m very proud of myself and the way I fought and stayed consistent in the moments that were close and crucial.

“I’m overwhelmed. [It was] just too much. The stadium was on fire, it was five sets… it was too good to be true.”

His opponent, No. 20-seeded Fritz, had already played some of the best tennis of his career en route to the fourth round—his best-ever result at a Grand Slam—and came into the contest off the back of a grueling five-set win over Roberto Bautista Agut.

He was looking for his first win over a Top 5 player at a Grand Slam as he came out swinging against Tsitsipas, and for much of the early stages he looked poised to achieve that.

Tsitsipas seemed flustered early on by Fritz’s firepower, and was thrown off his rhythm by a time violation warning and subsequent point penalty accrued in just the first four games of the first set. Fritz took advantage of that lapse in concentration, claiming the decisive break of serve at 4-3 on his way to the set.

Adding to the bizarre vibes playing out on the court, this somewhat prescient tweet was posted from Tsitsipas’ social media shortly after, mid-match:

The No. 4 seed’s case of the Mondays continued in the second set, as he struggled to find any inroads into the rock-solid Fritz serve. When Tsitsipas eventually converted on his first break opportunity of the match, the Greek player seemed unaware that he had won the second set and was already wandering to the back of the court to return another serve.

Tsitsipas looked far from his self-assured self, but he willed himself to keep pace with Fritz in a match decided by the finest of margins—each of the five sets was decided by a lone break of serve, out of the 20 opportunities on offer.

Deep in the fifth set, the tension ratcheted up as Fritz surrendered a crucial double fault at 4-4 to give Tsitsipas a look at break point. Tsitsipas attacked a meek second serve, drawing Fritz forward and was rewarded as his opponent buried a volley into the net to give him the lead. Tsitsipas served out the victory in similar fashion, clinching just after midnight in Melbourne.

Tsitsipas, who fired 53 winners including 19 aces on Monday, will next face No. 11 seed Jannik Sinner for a place in his third Australian Open semifinal. The 20-year-old Italian reached his second Grand Slam last eight with a 7-6(3), 6-3, 6-4 win over home hope Alex de Minaur in the preceding match on Rod Laver Arena.