Tsitsipas advances to semis in Rogers Cup
Greek star saves two match points against Zverev as Anderson ousts Dimitrov
Stefanos Tsitsipas’ best-ever run at an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event continued when he rallied to upset third-ranked Alexander Zverev 3-6, 7-6 6-4 and advance to the semi-finals of the Rogers Cup in Toronto.
Tsitsipas, the Greek rising tennis star, trailed by a set and a break, but got back on serve late in the second set and then saved two match points in a marathon tiebreaker before forcing the decider.
The 21-year-old German slammed his racket to the ground in frustration after missing a cross-court backhand to lose the second set.
Tsitsipas struggled on serve in the final set, but he managed to save eight of the nine break points he faced and broke Zverev’s serve on two occasions to wrap up the victory in two hours and 27 minutes.
For Tsitsipas, who had defeated Austrian world No. 8 Dominic Thiem and 10thranked Serbian Novak Djokovic in the two previous rounds, it was his third straight victory over a top-10 opponent.
Before this week, he had never advanced past the second round of one of the nine ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events, which are among the biggest tournaments outside of tennis’ four Grand Slams.
His opponent in semi-final will be South African 2018 Wimbledon runner-up Kevin Anderson, the world No. 6, who brushed aside Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-2 on Friday.
In the other quarter-finals at this Canadian hard court event — the Netherlands’ Robin Haase lost to Russia’s Karen Khachanov 3-6 1-6 while Spanish world No. 1 Rafael Nadal got past Croatian world No. 7 Marin Cilic 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
The women’s Rogers Cup event is also being played this week in Montreal.
In Friday’s quarter-finals, Australian world No. 16 Ashleigh Barty routed world No. 18 Kiki Bertens 6-3, 6-1 and American 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens cruised past Latvia’s Anastasia Sevastova 6-2, 6-2.