Australian Open: Stefanos Tsitsipas goes past Jordan Thompson in four-set encounter, enters third round

On Wednesday (Jan 17), Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas went past Australia's Jordan Thompson, 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) to storm into the third round of the men's singles at the Australian Open 2024 edition. Tsitsipas was challenged throughout the contest but the world number seven found ways to comeback andprogress ahead. The Greek player will now lock horns with FrenchmanLuca Van Assche in the third round.

The match started with Thompson, ranked 47th, winning the opening set. Tsitsipas came back into the contest in the following set but it went to the tiebreaker. With the momentum shifting from one player to the other, Tsitsipas finally managed to edge past Thompson. The third set saw the Greek player storming ahead of the Australian. After winning it 6-2, it seemed as if Tsitsipas would wrap up the contest but that wasn't the case. Thompson, despite conceding two successive sets,gave a tough run in the penultimate set.

Talking about the fourth set, Tsitsipas was behind but took the game to the tiebreaker. Eventually, he grasped the set with a 7-6 scoreline; emerging on top in the tiebreaker by 7-4 to book a place in the third round. His timely aces, slamming 13 overall as opposed to Thompson's five, came in handy as he was pushed to the wall on many occasions by Thompson.

Tsitsipaswill look to work a bit more on his game given there are more firm challenges lying ahead in the mega event Down Under.The last edition's runner-upis set to face Van Assche on Saturday (Jan 20).