Stefanos Tsitsipas advanced to the quarterfinals at the Australian Open in one of the final matches on Day 8 of the tournament.
The fourth-seeded Tsitsipas beat Taylor Fritz 4-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the men’s fourth round on Rod Laver Arena.
Tsitsipas last year rallied from two sets down to defeat Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals before losing to Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals. He went on to reach the French Open final.
Fritz was playing in the fourth round of a major for the first time.
US Open champion Daniil Medvedev also advanced Monday with a 6-2, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (4), 7-5 victory over Maxime Cressy.
The No. 2-ranked Medvedev is trying to become the first man in the Open era to win his second major singles title in the next Grand Slam event.
He’s now potentially three victories away from back-to-back major titles.
Medvedev was a runner-up in Australia last year but avenged that with a win over Novak Djokovic in the US Open final. Djokovic isn’t defending his Australian Open title after being deported on the eve of the year’s first major for failing to meet the country’s strict COVID-19 vaccination rules.
Medvedev had to struggle versus the No. 70-ranked Cressy in a match lasting 3½ hours. Cressy saved eight break-point chances in the fourth set before Medvedev got the decisive break in the 11th game, then served out at love to finish it off.
Medvedev will next play ninth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime, who beat 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic 2-6, 7-6 (7), 6-2, 7-6 (4). Medvedev beat the Canadian in the semifinals at last year’s US Open.
