Stefanos Tsitsipas celebrates victory in his third round singles match against Benoit Paire. Getty Images
Stefanos Tsitsipas celebrates victory in his third round singles match against Benoit Paire. Getty Images
Stefanos Tsitsipas celebrates victory in his third round singles match against Benoit Paire. Getty Images
Stefanos Tsitsipas celebrates victory in his third round singles match against Benoit Paire. Getty Images

Stefanos Tsitsipas serves up a storm to reach Australian Open fourth round


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World No 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas did not drop a service game, despite losing a set, as he overcame Benoit Paire to reach the fourth round at the Australian Open on Saturday.

Tsitsipas will face Taylor Fritz for a place in the quarter-finals after the American overcame Spanish 15th seed Roberto Bautista Agut 6-0, 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Tsitsipas has now reached the last 16 for the third time in five trips to Melbourne.

"I'm pretty glad with the win. Benoit is one of the biggest talents in our game, he has a lot of feel for the game," Tsitsipas said of his French opponent, who is ranked 56th in the world.

"It was a very important victory for me today and also very special to be playing on this arena and sharing that with the crowd."

Tsitsipas served strongly with 21 aces and won 89 per cent of his first serve points along with 47 winners and 26 unforced errors.

It was his fourth victory in five meetings with Paire, but his first over him at a major.

Tsitsipas, a two-time semi-finalist in Melbourne, became the first Greek player to reach a Grand Slam final when he lost to Novak Djokovic in last year's French Open final after leading by two sets.

He also holds the distinction of beating both Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer on his way to his two previous semi-final appearances at the Australian Open.

Aryna Sabalenka plays a backhand in her third round singles match against Marketa Vondrousova. Getty Images
Aryna Sabalenka plays a backhand in her third round singles match against Marketa Vondrousova. Getty Images

Aryna Sabalenka says she tried to "stop thinking" about her serve on Saturday and it worked well with the world No 2's woeful double fault count improving as she stayed in contention at the Australian Open.

The Belarusian had tallied 31 double faults in two matches at Melbourne Park so far, and 70 from four matches this season, but only suffered 10 against Marketa Vondrousova on Margaret Court Arena.

It helped her beat the Czech 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 and ensure passage to the last 16 where she will meet unseeded Estonian veteran Kaia Kanepi who overpowered Australian wildcard Madison Inglis 2-6, 6-2, 6-0.

"I was just trying to not really focus on my serve. Just trying to forget about my serve, and that's was working today," said Sabalenka, a semi-finalist last year at both Wimbledon and the US Open.

"I think it's more mental, because I put a lot of pressure on myself about my serve, and the last matches I was trying to control everything on my serve - my legs, my arm, the ball toss. And it was overthinking.

"I just stopped thinking. Like today, I was focusing only on the good jump and that's it."

Despite her serving yips, Sabalenka found a way to survive her opening two rounds against players ranked in triple digits thanks to her explosive all-court ability.

Daniil Medvedev celebrates match point in his third round singles match against Botic van de Zandschulp. Getty Images
Daniil Medvedev celebrates match point in his third round singles match against Botic van de Zandschulp. Getty Images

Russian title favourite Daniil Medvedev cruised into the fourth round at the Australian Open with an unruffled straight-sets victory over Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp on Saturday.

In sweltering conditions, the world No 2 won 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 in 1hr 55min to reach the last 16 for the fourth straight year in Melbourne.

Medvedev, coming off his high-octane win over home favourite Nick Kyrgios two days ago, could face either another Australian Chris O'Connell or American Maxime Cressy in the fourth round.

"I was hoping you were going to be a little bit easier on me you guys," Medvedev joked to the crowd, after he was booed by sections of the pro-Kyrgios crowd on Thursday.

"I'll put it this way, it's easier to play a guy from the Netherlands than a guy from Australia in Australia in Melbourne.

"Every good relationship must have its ups and downs so I think it's good, it's entertaining and it's real, there is some relationship going on."

The Russian 25-year-old was unhappy with the behaviour of some of the spectators in the stormy Kyrgios match, saying afterwards: "It's not everybody doing it but people who are doing it probably have a low IQ."

RESULTS

5pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner: Yas Xmnsor, Sean Kirrane (jockey), Khalifa Al Neyadi (trainer)

5.30pm: Falaj Hazza – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Arim W’Rsan, Dane O’Neill, Jaci Wickham

6pm: Al Basrah – Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner: Kalifano De Ghazal, Abdul Aziz Al Balushi, Helal Al Alawi

6.30pm: Oud Al Touba – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner: Pharitz Oubai, Sean Kirrane, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami

7pm: Sieh bin Amaar – Conditions (PA) Dh80,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner: Oxord, Richard Mullen, Abdalla Al Hammadi

7.30pm: Jebel Hafeet – Conditions (PA) Dh85,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: AF Ramz, Sean Kirrane, Khalifa Al Neyadi

8pm: Al Saad – Handicap (TB) Dh70,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Sea Skimmer, Gabriele Malune, Kareem Ramadan

NO OTHER LAND

Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

Rating: 3.5/5

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Updated: June 09, 2023, 12:29 PM`