“Great day at the office” Stefanos Tsitsipas survives a stern Jannik Sinner test to reach the semis in Rome
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Stefanos Tsitsipas
World No. 5 and the 4th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas advances into the semi-finals of the 2022 Rome Masters as he takes down home favourite and World No. 13 Jannik Sinner. Sinner and Stef were meeting for the fifth time and as per the track record so far, Stef proved to be the winner once again extending his lead to 4-1 in the head-to-head as the Tsitsipas won the match 7-6(5), 6-2 in 2 hours and 27 minutes to claim his 30th win of the season.
It was an intense first set battle between the two with a crunch tiebreaker being played. Tsitsipas however prevailed taking the first set after 86 minutes of battle. The intensity of the first set however looked to have drained Sinner who could not replicate his first set performances as Stef raced quickly to an elongated final game that itself was a see-saw battle. Sinner saved one match point before Stef closed out the match to move into the semi-finals in Rome for the second time.
Sinner hit 10 aces, committed 5 double faults, converted 3 of his 6 breakpoint opportunities and smashed 37 winners while making 5 unforced errors to finish the match with 86 points. Sinner from the other side of the net had 3 aces and made 2 double faults while being able to convert only 1 of the 6 break points he had for grabs. Sinner had 32 winners and mere 2 unforced errors as he narrowly lost with 77 points to his name after a spirited performance on home soil.
“I am happy things turned out well. It was a great day at the office. I was able to really step it up in the second set and I think the most important part was that first set tie-break. I really went for it when I had to. I didn’t overthink or hesitate and that paid off in the end,” said Stefanos in his on-court interview.
Third meeting of the year between Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev
With Alexander Zverev defeating Cristian Garin earlier in the day, he will now take on Stef in the semi-finals in what will be their third meeting of the season with the previous two taking place in the semi-finals of the Monte-Carlo Masters and later in the semis of the Madrid Masters with Stef and Sascha winning respectively. It will be the 12th meeting between them with Stef currently leading 7-4 in the head-to-head.
“We have similar game styles but he is one of the most difficult players to play against on the Tour. I have a lot of respect for him. He has achieved a lot so far and I try and look up to him with the things he has achieved,” said Stef on his upcoming semis clash with Zverev.
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Sarthak Shitole
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