French Open News: Stefanos Tsitsipas Advances To Quarter-Finals, Makes Greek Tennis History

Tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas made history for his country after becoming the first Greek man to make it to the quarter-finals of the Roland Garros. Tsitsipas defeated Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets to advance in the next round of the French Open.

Despite winning in only three sets 6-3, 7-6(9), 6-2, the entire match was a tightly contested bout that featured a close tiebreaker.

“The tie-break was very tense. The tie-break was where all the money was,” Tsitsipas said on the court, ATP Tour reported.

“I am glad that I played good tennis and I didn’t panic. I stayed concentrated, stayed low-key and tried to take it point-by-point,” he continued.

The 22-year-old has been a consistent presence in the top 10 world rankings but has yet to win a Grand Slam tournament in his career.

“I think it worked out pretty well at the end. I showed lots of discipline, lots of responsibility. It was a very responsible win in the second set and I am very happy with myself and the attitude that I put out on the court,” Tsitsipas said.

Currently ranked 6th overall in the world, the young star was able to knock out Dimitrov despite the Bulgarian’s elite style of play.

“I felt comfortable. I think Grigor can be very unpredictable and he has a great game, so coming into the match you don’t really know what to expect,” Tsitsipas continued.

Both players utilize a single-handed backhand and are heavy-hitters in terms of their groundstrokes.

“We have a similar style of play, so I knew that if I could be as aggressive as possible, play with my forehand and use my serve to create opportunities, they [would] eventually come,” Tsitsipas shared.

The quarter-finals will feature Tsitsipas' clash against rival Andrey Rublev. Tsitsipas understands the difficulty of facing Rublev in the next round as they've had their share of matches against one another.

“We grew up playing together,” Tsitsipas said. “[Andrey] has improved a lot… It is very important for me to take this opportunity and fight harder this time, maybe do something better… He's going to be difficult to play against. He has a very complete, solid game from all the departments.”