Surging Tsitsipas to face Nadal in Toronto final
TORONTO: Greek teenager Stefanos Tsitsipas slayed another tennis giant on Saturday, saving a match point as he toppled bigserving Kevin Anderson 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(7) in a thriller to set up a Rogers Cup final against top seed Rafa Nadal.
Tsitsipas dropped his racket, smiled and then screamed in front of a frenzied crowd after world number six Anderson sent a backhand long on match point. It was the world number 27’s fourth consecutive win over a top 10 opponent at the tournament.
Tsitsipas dispatched Dominic Thiem, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev in the previous three rounds before battling back to send the Wimbledon runner-up packing on a sun-soaked day in Toronto.
Tsitsipas will play his first ATP Masters 1000 final on his 20th birthday on Sunday against world number one Nadal after the Spaniard defeated Karen Khachanov 7-6(3), 6-4 in their rain-delayed evening match.
Fourth seed Anderson was unable to break Tsitsipas’ serve on any of his four opportunities and saw his lone match point opportunity vanish when Tsitsipas smoked a backhand crosscourt winner in the third set tiebreak.
Tsitsipas, who stood well back of the baseline when receiving the South African’s blistering serves, managed the only service break of the game in the third game of the second set with an overhead smash. With the win, Tsitsipas is projected to climb to at least number 15 when the new rankings are released on Monday.
Despite his recent success Tsitsipas will be a big underdog when he takes on French Open champion Nadal, who will be seeking his 33rd career Masters 1000 title.
Nadal overcame six aces from the big-serving Russian Khachanov to punch his ticket to his fifth final of the year.
Nadal dominated in his only previous meeting with Tsitsipas, a straight sets win in the final of the Barcelona Open on the Spaniard’s preferred surface of clay.