Stefanos Tsitsipas overcame a tough start to power past Andrey Rublev 7-5 6-2 6-3 to reach the semi-finals at Roland Garros.
The Greek won in relatively convincing fashion as he tamed an in-form Andrey Rublev.
However it was a struggle for Tsitsipas at the start of the match as he couldn’t find a way to outmanoeuvre Rublev.
The Russian’s big forehand mixed with incredible athleticism and consistent precision made it difficult for the fifth seed to hit flat, powerful groundstrokes.
Eventually Rublev got his reward for making the quicker and more proactive start as he broke in the fifth game for a 3-2 lead.
The Greek tried to mix up the pace of the rallies consistently but to no positive effect as Rublev was winning the key battles.
However just when Rublev had a grip on the first set, the same thing happened to Tsitsipas in the Hamburg final and the pressure got to him.
Some loose unforced errors and lack of first serves came to haunt the 13th seed as he gave the break back to Tsitsipas.
Now Tsitsipas had the confidence to be proactive himself and shorten the points up at the net.
A shocking last part of the set was completed from the Russian’s perspective as four games in a row wrapped up the first set for Tsitsipas 7-5.
Now Tsitsipas had found his confidence, he started the distribute the ball around the court much better creating more problematic angles for Rublev to work with.
There were no real weaknesses for Tsitsipas as he continued to use tactical variation to catch the Russian off guard.
A lucky net-cord in the sixth game and another Rublev error sealed the two breaks of serve needed for a two sets to love lead.
Seemingly Rublev couldn’t find any solutions and wasn’t able to make Tsitsipas use the slice as the Greek found his rhythm on the forehand and return.
Some strong hitting on the forehand gave Tsitsipas the break in the fourth game as some strong serving out wide gave the Greek a big straight sets victory.
After a tough start against a tough opponent, Tsitsipas managed to cruise to what was a fairly comfortable win in the end against a tough opponent on paper.
Now Tsitsipas reaches the final four and will play Novak Djokovic or Pablo Carreno Busta in his bid for a first grand slam title.
