Tsitsipas topples Thompson with Melbourne turnaround

Faced with a charging Jordan Thompson and a passionate home crowd, Stefanos Tsitsipas’ Australian Open hopes could have faded quickly on Wednesday inside Margaret Court Arena.

Instead, the 2023 finalist showed immense grit to grind out a 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-2, 7-6(4) second-round victory and keep his campaign on track at the hard-court major. Thompson’s high-energy all-court tennis had Tsitsipas on the ropes for much of the opening two sets, but the Greek stuck to his task and was rewarded with a three-hour, 36-minute triumph.

“At this very moment, I only remember the last point, the way it finished,” Tsitsipas, who saved four Thompson set points at 5-6 in the fourth set, in his on-court interview. “The adrenaline and the rush that I got out of this match was insane tonight. You live for these kinds of matches.

“The intensity was there. We were both able to peak in terms of our tennis at some point during the match. Jordan was fighting. I was serving for the match, he had an incredible comeback.”

Rising to the occasion 📈

2023 finalist @steftsitsipas survives the Jordan Thompson test to advance to the third round for the sixth consecutive year.@AustralianOpen | #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/FQC6eZyhPY

— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 17, 2024

Pulling through a tense second set proved pivotal for Tsitsipas’ victory. He appeared to have taken control of a set in which Thompson, the No. 47 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, made much of the running by forging a 6/3 lead in the tie-break but he let slip all three set points, including a badly misjudged overhead at 6/5.

The 25-year-old Greek responded to that setback in style, however, as he made no mistake with his fourth opportunity to clinch the second set two points later. He then dominated the third set and held two match points on serve at 5-4 in the fourth, before resisting Thompson's late comeback to improve to 3-1 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

Tsitsipas’ serving was key throughout the match. The Greek saved nine of 11 break points he faced and finished the match having won 75 percent (58/77) of points behind his first delivery.

Now 23-6 at the Australian Open, Tsitsipas will take on Luca Van Assche next in Melbourne after the #NextGenATP Frenchman upset 25th seed Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 3-6, 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-0.