Stefanos Tsitsipas edged past Alexander Zverev 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 in 1 hour and 59 minutes to reach the quarter final at the Paris Rolex Masters at the Accor Arena in Paris Bercy.
Tstitsipas fired 37 winners, including 10 aces to clinch his 50th ATP Tour level of the 2023 season.
Tsitsipas earned his first break point in the second game to take a 2-0 lead. The Greek player rallied from 15-40 down in the third game saving two break points for 3-0. He held his next two service games to open up a 5-2 lead. Zverev saved two break points before breaking back in the ninth game for 4-5. The German player held serve at 15 to draw level to 5-5. Tsitsipas earned a mini-break to take a 3-1 lead. Zverev pulled back for 2-3. Tsitsipas won four consecutive points to seal the tie-break 7-2.
Tsitsipas earned an early break in the first game to open up a 2-0 lead. The 2019 Nitto ATP Finals champion rallied from 0-30 down at 4-3 but he did not face any break points.
Zverev saved two match points in the ninth game, as he was serving to stay in the match at 5-3. Tsitsipas served out the second set on his third match point in the 10th game without facing any break points.
Tsitsipas improves to 9-4 in his head-to-head series against Zverev.
“I am thrilled to be playing good tennis. I am humbled in victory now and I really want to keep going strong and show some of my potential out there on the Bercy court”, said Tsitsipas.
Tsitsipas set up a quarter final against Karen Khachanov, who came back from one set down to beat Russian qualifier Roman Safiulin 4-6 6-4 6-2. Tsitsipas leads 6-1 in his seven head-to-head matches against Khachanov.
With this win Tsitsipas has become the sixth player to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, joining Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Danil Medvedev, Jannik Sinner and Andrey Rublev.
Tsitsipas reached the Australian Open final last January, but he struggled in the second half the season. He won four of his ten matches after winning the 10th title of his career in Los Cabos last August. He recently returned to his best form by reaching two semifinal in Antwerp and Vienna. “It’s awesome. What a great relief to finally get that sort. I have been working extremely hard the whole year. It’s a moment of relief that I have made it to one of my favourite events of the year and I get the opportunity in front of my Italian fans, but also get some Greek people in”, said Tsitsipas.
