Scarcity is the price. And this qualification of Stefanos Tsitsipas, facing a Rafael Nadal passed from one emotion to another, worth its weight in gold. The Greek will attend the semi-finals of Australian Open, Friday, and at least a mountain had to be knocked down for that. Because he was led two sets to zero, crushed at first by the Mallorcan steamroller (6-3, 6-2), and rare are the prodigies to have jostled such a well-crafted scenario.
7. For the seventh time in his career, @RafaelNadal is pushed into a 5th set while leading 2 sets to 0. His record so far? 4 wins, 2 losses. #AusOpen #HomeOfTennis pic.twitter.com/XeXGbPbYSS
– Game, Set and Maths (@JeuSetMaths) February 17, 2021
By completely turning the tide and winning the next three sets (7-6, 6-4, 7-5), Stefanos Tsitsipas made his entry into the very closed club of players capable of overthrowing this monument of world tennis that is Rafael Nadal.
They are actually only three, to date, since only Roger Federer (Miami in 2005), at a time when the Mallorcan was not yet in the Top 10 at ATP (31st worldwide), and Fabio Fognini ( US Open, 2015) had done it before him. This is to say the scope of the feat achieved by the Greek player. Ivo Heuberger, Robin Soderling and Daniil Medvedev cannot say the same, they who had failed in the fifth set after having also conceded the first two …
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