Upbeat Tsitsipas serves up 21 aces
WORLD No.4 Stefanos os Tsitsipas did not drop a service game, despite los- ing a set, as he overcame e Benoit Paire to reach the e fourth round at the Austraalian Open on Saturday.
The Greek seemed on course for a straight-sets win, i but decisively lost a tie-break to the Frenchman before going on to see out victory 6-3, 7-5, 6-7 (2/7), 6-4 in 2hr 42min on a steamy Rod Laver Arena.
Tsitsipas will face Taylor Fritz for a place in the quarter-finals after the American overcame Spanish 15th seed Roberto Bautista Agut 6-0, 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Tsitsipas has now reached the last 16 for the third time in five trips to Melbourne.
“I’m pretty glad with the win. Benoit is one of the biggest talents in our game. He has a lot of feel for the game,” Tsitsipas said of his French opponent, who is ranked 56th in the world.
Tsitsipas served strongly with 21 aces and won 89 per cent of his first serve points along with 47 winners and 26 unforced errors.