Greece’s young tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas won the first ATP main-draw match against Australia’s Alex de Minaur 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 to reach the Japan Open quarterfinals on Thursday.
De Minaur struggled to hold serve against fifth-seeded Tsitsipas, facing 20 break points and saving only 14.
20-year-old Tsitsipas lost the second set however easily took the third 6-1 to head into the Quarterfinals.
“Tennis is such a weird sport sometimes. You can win a match in the third set and it was a matter of one point today. If I would have won one more point — and I didn’t have just one opportunity to do that, I had a couple of them— I could have won that match 6-3, 6-2,” Tsitsipas told ATP World Tour.
Tsitsipas will now face third-seeded Kei Nishikori in the quarterfinals on Friday, who is a home favourite and has won this tournament twice.
