Melbourne – Co-favourite Stefanos Tsitsipas averted early failure at the Australian Open. In a thrilling five-set match, the world number four came back from a deficit to defeat American Taylor Fritz 4-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in Melbourne.
After 3:23 hours, the 23-year-old Greek decided the round of 16 match in his favour. Tsitsipas will now face Italy’s Jannik Sinner for a place in the semi-finals.
In the women’s singles, Kaia Kanepi continued her surprising winning streak against world number two Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus. Angelique Kerber’s defeater won 5:7, 6:2, 7:6 (10:7). The 36-year-old Estonian thus secured a quarter-final against former Polish French Open winner Iga Swiatek. Kerber, from Kiel, had a disappointing 34th birthday at the first Grand Slam tournament of the season last Tuesday with an opening defeat to Kanepi.
