3rd seed Stefanos Tsitsipas takes on an upbeat Jiri Lehecka in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Australian Open on Tuesday.
The world No. 4 is one win away from making it to the semifinals of the Australian Open for the third consecutive year and fourth overall.
Tsitsipas began the campaign with two comfortable straight-set wins against Quentin Halys and Rinky Hijikata. In the third round, the Greek superstar beat the in-form Tallon Griekspoor in straight sets 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3. In the fourth round, Tsitsipas faced 15th seed Jannik Sinner. The Italian youngster lost the first couple of sets before coming back superbly to take the match into the fifth set. Sinner eventually used his experience to win the match 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3.
The 21-year-old is delivering on the promise he has shown every now and then in his young career. Prior to the Australian Open, he had 0 wins in the main draw of Grand Slam competitions.
In the first round, Lehecka stunned 21st seed Borna Coric and won the encounter in straight sets 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. He followed it up with another confident win against Christopher Eubanks 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the second round. Lehecka went on to face an in-form Cameron Norrie in the third round. The 11th seed won two out of the first three sets. However, the youngster from the Czech Republic showed great resilience to win the match 6-7 (8-10), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. Norrie didn’t help himself as he ended up with 7 double faults. The road did not get any easier for Lehecka as he went head-to-head with 6th seed Feliz Auger-Aliassime in the fourth round. After winning the first set, the Canadian sensation found Lehecka’s mixture of offense and defense too hot to handle. The match eventually ended 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-3).
Stefanos Tsitsipas has a 1-0 lead in the head-to-head scoreline. He defeated Lehecka 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in Rotterdam last year.
Prediction: Stefanos Tsitsipas to win in four sets.
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