Young Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (15th) qualified for his first Grand Slam semifinal at age 20 at the Australian Open at the expense of Spain's Roberto Bautista (24th) in four sets 7-5 , 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/2) in 3h15 min, Tuesday in Melbourne.
"A fairy tale". Tsitsipas had dethroned Roger Federer's double-winner in the previous round. He will face Spaniard Rafael Nadal, current N.2 World, or the young American Frances Tiafoe (39th) for a place in the final. "It's a fairy tale, I live a dream, what I worked hard for, I'm moved but not too much because I know I really worked hard for that," he said. . "At the beginning of the season, I was asked what my goals were and I answered a Grand Slam semifinal, and when I said that, I thought I was crazy, but it was Really, it's just arrived! "
First Greek semifinalist in a major tournament. Prior to the Australian Open, Tsitsipas' best result in the Grand Slam was a round of 16, reached at Wimbledon last season. He becomes the first Greek semifinalist in a major tournament. Before him, no player or player in his country had even played a quarterfinal Grand Slam.
Tsitsipas showed up last season by reaching his first Masters 1000 final in Toronto in August, and by passing four top-10 victories including Novak Djokovic, which earned him entry into the the top 20. He won the first title of his career two months later, in Stockholm at the end of October. A first for a Greek player.