Greek tennis sensation Stefanos Tsitsipas made it through to the Roland Garros semi finals after knocking out Andrey Rublev in straight sets.
“It is a dream to be here and play in this stadium,” said Tsitsipas.
The world no. 5 will be coming up against world no. 1 Novak Djokovic, who earlier this year had tested positive for coronavirus but is well on his feet again.
Russian Rublev was no match for the 22-year-old who secured the match 7-5 6-2 6-3.
It seemed as if Tsitsipas had psychological disadvantage playing against Rublev, after losing to him in the final of the European Open in Hamburg just over a week ago.
The opening set saw Tsitsipas down 3-5 before shifting his game to play the short slice, exploiting Rublev’s inexperience in the front court.
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“He missed a few shots that he didn’t before,” Tsitsipas said in his post match interview.
“I think tactics changed after. I started to feel my game a bit better. I started feeling my movement on the court also better, slightly became more comfortable moving around the court hitting at the same time.”
It was then that the young Greek really laid on the pressure, bringing home an impressive finish with 6-2 in the second set and 6-3 in the final.
“I feel very comfortable playing here and despite the fact that I did not start well, I remember that I am a fighter and in difficult times I fight, I put my mind to work to achieve it,” he told ERT’s camera.
Rublev also went to comment on Tsitsipas’ impressive game play in his post match interview.
I don’t know, he was playing really good today I think. In my case, I was playing not bad. Some little mistakes. After the first set, he start to play really good,” he said.
Tsitsipas and Djokovic will be playing on Saturday morning for those hoping to watch the semi final match in Australia.