Stefanos Tsitsipas showed so much promise as he marched past Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 7-6(9), 6-2 to become the first Greek player in history to reach the quarter-finals at Roland-Garros.
The Greek tennis player has now unlocked another personal milestone in Paris, and when asked if he felt he could go all the way. Tsitsipas says “I don’t know until this tournament is over. Just play tennis and forget the rest.”
Reminiscing on his recent defeat by his next opponent Andrey Rublev, who had the upper hand against Tsitsipas in their Hamburg final just eight days ago, he says: “It is very important for me to take this opportunity and fight harder this time, maybe do something better.
“He’s going to be difficult to play against. He has a very complete, solid game from all the departments. He has improved a lot his serve. He relies a lot on his power. He has very powerful shots. I think he for sure brings the best out of me when I step out on the court to play against him.”
Watch the match highlights below
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Tsitsipas since he dropped his first two set against Spain’s Jaume Munar in the opening round, has tapped a rich vein of form over his last three matches, and has now won 12 consecutive sets.
The quarter-finals, however, will be a full-circle moment for Tsitsipas and Rublev.
The pair met in the Hamburg final just over a week ago and now they’re ready to square off again in a high-stakes quarter-final.
“It’s funny,” Rublev says after his match on Monday. “Both of us had a tough, tough week in Hamburg, tough final. Then both of us were down in the first round, two sets to love. Both of us came back. Now we are here and we’re going to play each other in quarters. I hope it’s going to be interesting. I hope we’re going to show a good level, and I hope people will enjoy.”
Into his second Grand Slam quarter-final in his 13th appearance at a major, Tsitsipas knows that the road will become more treacherous from here on out.
“It’s going to be a difficult challenge,” he says. “I’m not expecting things to get easier from this point, for sure. Every single round is going to be more difficult than the previous one.”
Nice one Tsitsipas