Third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Germany’s Phillipp Kohlschreiber in the Tokyo Olympics,
The Greek champ made his Olympic debut with a hard-fought 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory over the German player and won 75 per cent of his first service points.
The win made him the first Greek man to claim victory in the Men’s Singles of the Games since Augustos Zerlandis’ win in 1924, and said it was “an honour” to end the Greek tennis drought.
“It is an honour. It’s a big move for Greece. It’s a big move for this sport in Greece as well, and there’s joy in doing that,” Tsitsipas said in his post-match interview.
The 22-year-old champion had reached the Roland Garros finals earlier this year.
Tsitsipas will next meet American Frances Tiafoe, who downed Soonwoo Kwon of South Korea, 6-3, 6-2.
He spoke of “building a rivalry” ahead of his rematch with the American, who had recently defeated him in the first round of Wimbledon.
READ MORE: Stefanos Tsitsipas becomes first big name to be defeated at Wimbledon 2021
“Stats are important. It’s a good thing to know that this happened. I’m a person that’s optimistic and I’m a person that wants more,” he said, while also remembering his loss to Tiafoe.
“I’ve learned my lessons. I try and move on better this time. He’s an opponent around my age group and we’re kind of building a rivalry. I’m going to have to raise my level this time.”
In the women’s sport, Maria Sakkari, ranked number 19 in the world, beat Anett Kontaveit from Estonia in straight sets on Saturday, winning the first set at 7-5 and 6-2 in the second.