On the eve of his 20th birthday, Stefanos Tsitsipas has booked a place in his first ever Masters 1000 final after defeating South Africa’s Kevin Anderson 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(7), at the Rogers Cup in Toronto.
The Greek No.1 entered the match high in momentum following three consecutive wins over top 10 players earlier in the tournament. Including former world No.1 Novak Djokovic and 2017 champion Alexander Zverev. Taking on Anderson on Saturday, Tsitsipas battled hard to keep within contention throughout a marathon match that lasted 12 minutes shy of the three-hour mark. Saving all four break points he faced as he hit 41 winners to 35 unforced errors.
“Playing in a Masters 1000 final is the best thing that can happen on your birthday,” atpworldtour.com quoted Tsitsipas as saying after the match. “I cannot believe it.”
In what was a case of fine margins, the inexperienced 19-year-old was unfazed by the significance of playing in his maiden Masters 1000 semi-final. Despite suffering numerous blows from across the court. During the opening set, Tsitsipas boasted a 4-1 lead in the tiebreaker. Only for his opponent to claim six consecutive points to take the opening set.
Battling from behind, the Greek rising star managed to turn his fortunes around early in the second set. An Anderson forehand drifted wide on break point to elevate Tsitsipas to a 2-1 lead. With his chances of reaching the final revived, the world No.27 went on to draw level. Coming through a seven-minute service game to nudge ahead 5-3, before sealing the second set two games later with a backhand volley.
With all to play for, neither player refused to give in during the decider. Tsitsipas saved two break points to draw level at 3-3 before Anderson save one of his own to move ahead 5-4. The little disparity between the two resulted in a tense shootout in the tiebreaker. After four consecutive breaks of serves, Tsitsipas rallied to two match points. Only to squander both of them with a double fault followed by a forehand error. Then Anderson, who is yet to play in a Masters 1000 final, had a match point that he failed to capitalize. Eventually, it was Tsitsipas who prevailed. Firing an ace for his third match point, which he converted with the help of an error from his opponent.
“I was mixing it up. He seemed a bit confused and he cracked at the end,” Tsitsipas said.
“I didn’t aim that high and I think with low expectations I managed to pull out my best tennis.”
As a result of his latest win, Tsitsipas has become the first person to defeat four top 10 players within the same tournament on the ATP Tour since Jo Wilfried Tsonga at the 2014 Rogers Cup. He has also become the first unseeded finalist in the tournament since Nicolas Keifer back in 2008.
Tsitsipas will take on either Rafael Nadal or Karen Khachanov in the final. He is now set to rise to a ranking high of 15th in the world rankings on Monday.
