Stefanos Tsitsipas storms into fourth Australian Open semi-final with victory over Jiri Lehecka
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Updated 24/01/2023 at 18:22 GMT
World No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas maintained his perfect record in Grand Slam quarter-finals with a straight sets victory over Jiri Lehecka. Tsitsipas’ strong serving for most of the match and his ability to find some of his best tennis in important moments proved to be the difference in a tight battle, despite the scoreline. Stream the 2023 Australian Open live on discovery+ and on Eurosport.
Australian Open highlights - Tsitsipas beats Lehecka to reach semi-finals
Stefanos Tsitsipas stormed into the semi-finals of the Australian Open for a fourth time after beating Jiri Lehecka 6-3 7-6(2) 6-4.
Tsitsipas only broke Lehecka's serve twice in the entire match but outshone his opponent at the end of the second and third set to move into the last four.
He will play Karen Khachanov, who was winning against Sebastian Korda before the American retired, on Thursday.
“It felt different from any other match," said Tsitsipas.
“The most important thing in the end was I found a solution. It was a very difficult three-setter, one of the most difficult ones I’ve had in the competition.
“I had to deal with Jiri’s groundstrokes, they were coming at me much heavier and deeper so I had to really put my heart out there and give it my best.
“The tie-break was crucial and the way I saw it was, that was my opportunity to really take a massive lead and I’m happy with the way I closed that set.”
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Tsitsipas breaks early in the first set against Lehecka at Australian Open
Tsitsipas raced into a 3-0 lead in the first set, breaking Lehecka at the fifth time of asking in a long second game.
It proved decisive as the remaining games in the set were shared to give Tsitsipas the advantage.
The early stages of the second set appeared to be a role reversal of the first as Lehecka was the one putting pressure on his opponent’s serve.
He had five break point opportunities in the fourth game but some big serving from Tsitsipas got him out of trouble.
Both players were largely untroubled on their own service games as they found their rhythm with some great hitting.
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Tsitsipas dominates a 'faultless' second set tie-break
It came to a tie-break where Tsitsipas stamped his authority by winning the opening four points and dented the confidence of Lehecka.
He finished off the set with a delightful cross-court forehand winner to go a set away from a place in the semi-finals.
The comfortable holds continued at the start of the third set, with Lehecka not showing any signs of giving in or losing his head.
A couple of poor shots and a double fault from Tsitsipas in the seventh game suddenly gave Lehecka three break points.
Yet again, Tsitsipas played his way out of trouble and he showed what it meant when saving the break points, throwing his fist towards his own box with cries of "come on!", before taking the game to make it 4-3.
Tsitsipas was frustrated when he couldn’t make more of his 0-30 advantage in the next game, hitting a ball at the advertising board in frustration.
A comfortable hold of serve and some superb tennis from the Greek player saw him break Lehecka for just the second time but it was enough to win the match.
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Stream the 2023 Australian Open live on discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.co.uk
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