Stefanos Tsitsipas has defeated Italian Flavio Cobolli, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6), to advance to the quarterfinals of the Mexican Open, where he will now face defending champion Alex de Minaur.
The Greek trailed 5/2 in the tie-break, but remained calm under pressure to emerge victorious in straight sets.
He saved two of the three break points he faced to advance to his second quarter-final of the season. He reached the semi-finals last week in Los Cabos.
“It’s not an easy mountain to climb being 5/2 down and having your opponent serve twice,” the 25-year-old said.
“It’s quite an incredible comeback to be honest in this part of the match, especially when the momentum shifts and changes so quick after serving for the match.
“It’s something that you do not expect and there’s definitely a lot of doubt creeping through your mind. I think at this particular moment I was just able to compose myself really well and I refused to go to a third set, which was very important.”
The victory also means the former world No.3 will return to the top 10 next week, having fallen out of the group for the first time in four years.
Currently he sits at No.9 in the live rankings and could climb as high as seven with a deep run in Acapulco.
Next up he’ll meet third seed Alex De Minaur, whose impressive start to 2024 has continued with another easy win to move into the last eight of the Mexico Open.
The Australian made short work of Austrian Sebastian Ofner in their second-round match winning 6-1 6-3, which came after he swept aside Japan’s Taro Daniel in their opening match after losing just three games.
The top-ranked Aussie’s serve proved a deadly weapon on Wednesday night (local time), winning 90 per cent of his first-serve points, but credited his big heart for the victory.
“I’ve got a very big heart, I’ll tell you that,” De Minaur said in his post-match interview.
“This heart is going to keep me going, no matter what the score is, where I’m at, what stage of my career I am (in).
“It’s what’s gotten me to this point so far, and it’s what’s going to hopefully get me further and further.”
The world No.9 also put plenty of pressure on the serve of 37th-ranked Ofner, converting five of 12 break-point opportunities to cruise through after one hour and 29 minutes.
“It’s all about trying to put as much pressure as I can on my opponents every single service game,” De Minaur said.
“And no matter what the result is in that game, just always try to stay in there and try to win a couple points here and there.
“To be honest, I don’t think I’m doing anything special out there. I’m just asking the question.”
The 25-year-old has 10 ATP Tour titles while Tsitsipas has seven, however, the top ranked Greek has never won a 500-level event despite two wins in Masters 1000 tournaments.
He has made 10 ATP 500 finals for no wins, including in Acapulco in 2021.
*With AAP
