Greek fans erupt after Tsitsipas knocks out defending champion (VIDEO)

Stefanos Tsitsipas beat defending champion and current world number four Alexander Zverev of Germany in three sets, to advance to the semifinals of the ATP Masters 1000 Madrid Open.

The Greek edged Zverev 7-5 in the first set, but Zverev won the last nine points of the second set to take it 6-3 and force a third set. After saving three break points to hold and go up 2-1 in the third set, Tsitsipas went on to break Zverev twice and win the set 6-2 to take the match. Tsitsipas now holds a 2-1 record against Zverev, having won two matches in a row against Zverev after previously defeating the German in the quarterfinals of the ATP Masters 1000 event in Toronto last August.

This is now just the second time in Tsitsipas’ career that he advanced to the semifinals of an ATP Masters 1000 tournament, as he also did so in Toronto. There, he became the youngest player to ever defeat four top 10 players in a tournament, making it all the way to the final. This is also the Greek’s fifth semifinal of 2019, and his 26th win of the year, the most of any player on tour. Tsitsipas has now won ten consecutive matches (seven in singles and three in doubles) and has won a total of nine matches (six singles and three doubles) over the last eight days.

*Hear the Greek fans go crazy here-

Tsitsipas is still alive in the doubles tournament in Madrid, as he is in the semifinals with Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands, and they will now face the Dutch-Romanian pair of Rojer and Tecau.

World number two Rafael Nadal of Spain will be Tsitsipas’ opponent in the semifinals of the singles event. Nadal, the five-time Madrid champion, is through to the semifinals without dropping a set. The “King of Clay” destroyed 2015 French Open champion Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland 6-1 6-2 in the quarterfinals. Nadal also holds a 3-0 record against Tsitsipas, and won all three without dropping a set. In the other semifinal, world number one Novak Djokovic of Serbia will face world number five Dominic Thiem of Austria.

Additionally, Tsitsipas is set to move back up to his career-high ranking of number eight in the world. The 20-year-old from Athens, currently ranked ninth in the world, would move up to number seven by making the final, and number six by winning the title in Madrid.

by Andrew Stamas

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