Stefanos Tsitsipas holds off Thanasi Kokkinakis to win Greek epic

A Greek tragedy threatened to befall Stefanos Tsitsipas on the Australian Open on Thursday earlier than the fifth seed steadied to fend off native wildcard Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-7(5) 6-4 6-1 6-7(5) 6-4 and attain the third spherical.

The day after Nick Kyrgios despatched John Cain Area into delirium with an exhilarating comeback, 267th-ranked Greek-Australian Kokkinakis appeared set for the boilover of the match when he threaded a backhand down the road to ship the match right into a fifth set.

It was to not be, although, as Tsitsipas captured the decisive break within the fifth recreation and held on grimly to shut out a four-hour 32-minute epic within the steamy twilight at Rod Laver Area.

The one participant from Greece to achieve a Grand Slam semi-final, Tsitsipas paid tribute to his pal Kokkinakis, who celebrated his first Australian Open win in six years on Tuesday after battling accidents and sickness.

“Thanasi is a superb competitor and an awesome fighter. As you noticed it was very troublesome dealing with him at present,” the 22-year-old mentioned on court docket. “I simply wish to go for a pleasant tub proper now, that is all I am considering.” Tsitsipas set Melbourne’s enormous Greek neighborhood alight two years in the past when he shocked Roger Federer on the best way to the semi-finals on the Grand Slam. There was little love for him from the Rod Laver Area crowd on Thursday, nonetheless, with followers firmly behind Adelaide-born Kokkinakis, the son of Greek immigrants.

With no obvious sponsorship from attire giants, Kokkinakis induced a stir when he wore a black, A$6 ($4.65) Kmart T-shirt from a neighborhood shopping center in his first spherical match. Towards Tsitsipas, he wore a crisp white T-shirt however had a small emblem stitched onto the sleeves, having picked up an endorsement deal from a office security agency.

The corporate bought its cash’s price as Kokkinakis took the primary set, with Tsitsipas serving up a double-fault on set level. Tsitsipas knuckled down within the subsequent two units and was cruising to victory with a break within the fourth earlier than Kokkinakis rallied and closed out an exhilarating tiebreak with an beautiful backhand passing shot.

Ultimately, Tsitsipas survived to arrange a 3rd spherical conflict with Swede Mikael Ymer. “Regardless of the issue of the match at present I actually loved being out right here and competing and exhibiting the world a extremely top quality of tennis,” mentioned Tsitsipas, who by no means dropped serve in opposition to the Australian.

Kokkinakis and his low-cost T-shirt left the court docket to an enormous ovation, and the hope of larger issues to come back.