By Chris Oddo | Thursday June 14, 2018
Stefanos Tsitsipas saved a match point and defeated Malek Jaziri in three sets to reach his first ATP quarterfinal on grass.
Photo Source: Libema Open
Stefanos Tsitsipas braved a rain delay and saved a match point in the second-set tiebreaker to defeat Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri, 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-2 on Thursday at the Libema Open at ‘s-Hertogenbosch.
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The 19-year-old improved to 18-14 on the season with his win and will face No.2-seeded Richard Gasquet on Friday in the quarterfinals.
Tsitsipas, playing at a career-high ranking of No.37 in the world, was broken in the ninth game of the first set by Jaziri before the Tunisian served out the set to take a lead.
After a prolonged rain delay Tsitsipas fell behind by a break in set but he broke back for 3-3 before rallying back from 5-2 down in the tiebreaker, saving a match point with a volley winner on his serve, and claiming the final three points of the set to level.
It was a heartbreaker for Jaziri and he never recovered. Tsitsipas broke in the opening game of the final set and again in the fifth game to win running away.
Gasquet crushed Russia’s Evgeny Donskoy, 6-2, 6-2. He won 24 of 25 first-serve points and did not face a break point in the 69-minute contest.
Jeremy Chardy and MacKenzie McDonald also reached the semis. Chardy beat top-seeded Adrian Mannarino, 6-4, 6-4, while American wild card McDonald defeated Alex Bolt of Australia to reach his first ATP quarterfinal.
The quarterfinals shape up as follows in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.