The Greek, ranked fourth in the world, Stefanos Tsitsipas, qualified for the semi-finals of the Australian Open tennis championship, by defeating the Czech Jiri Lichka 6-3, 7-6 (7/2), 6-4.
Thus, the 24-year-old Greek will meet in the semi-finals that he reached for the fourth time in Australia (following 2019, 2021, and 2022), the Russian Karen Khachanov (ranked 20 in the world), in his quest to reach his first final in Melbourne.
Tsitsipas had previously won one Grand Slam final during his career, and it was in the French Open (Roland Garros), which he lost to Serbian Novak Djokovic in 2021.
And in front of Lihicka, the Greek won the first set smoothly, and advanced following breaking serve with three clean games, which gave him a comfortable advantage. But in the second set, the Czech began to stand equal to Tsitsipas, similar to the fourth game, where the Greek saved five break points. However, he came back in the third set and settled it easily to win the match.
“In the tie-break, it was regarding him getting back into the competition or me having the upper hand,” Tsitsipas said following the win.
“I came out of (Group C) with experience and the right attitude (…) It’s one of the most difficult matches of the tournament,” he added.
