Stefanos Tsitsipas cruises past Jannik Sinner for spot in Australian Open men's semifinals

ByABC News
January 26, 2022, 8:09 AM

MELBOURNE, Australia --  Stefanos Tsitsipas maintained his perfect record in Grand Slam quarterfinals, beating No. 11-seeded Jannik Sinner 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 Wednesday to reach the last four of the Australian Open.

The 23-year-old, No. 4-ranked Tsitsipas improved to 5-0 at this stage of a major. It's the semifinals he's yet to master, winning just one -- at Roland Garros last year -- from four so far.

He'll next player either Daniil Medvedev, who made his Grand Slam breakthrough when he won last year's US Open title, or No. 9 Felix Auger-Aliassime. No. 2 Medvedev and Auger-Aliassime were meeting later Wednesday in a night match.

Tsitsipas didn't face a break point and converted all four he got on Sinner's serve in the match that lasted just over two hours, considerably less than his five-set fourth-round win over Taylor Fritz.

The only real delay came from a weather disruption, when a late afternoon storm meant the roof over Rod Laver Arena had to be closed when the Greek star was already up a set and a break.

"I knew I was heading toward the right direction," Tsitsipas said. "The conditions might have changed a little bit after the roof was closed -- slightly faster, not as bouncy as before. I tried to adapt to the new conditions, and it just worked."

Dozens of ball kids and staff used towels to soak up water on the court in the 15-minute break.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.