Australian Open: Stefanos Tsitsipas edges Roberto Bautista Agut, becoming..

The youngest semi-finalist in Melbourne since 2003 and Andy Roddick and at Majors overall after Novak Djokovic at the US Open 2007, Stefanos played another high-quality match just like against Roger Federer two days ago, blasting 68 winners and 38 errors to topple the rival who gave his best to stay in contention.

Roberto won just five points less than Stefanos but the Greek created more break chances and grabbed four breaks in comparison to three for the Spaniard, not enough to set the deciding set despite a valiant effort in his very first Grand Slam quarter-final.

Bautista Agut had 50 winners and 32 unforced errors, defending the second serve in a more effective way than his rival but failing to match Tsitsipas pace behind the first serve, hitting just six aces in comparison to Stefanos 22 and falling in the most critical points to end his run in the quarters.

The Spaniard earned the first out of three breaks in the very first game of the match after a smash mistake from Stefanos who managed to break back in the eighth game when Bautista Agut sprayed a costly forehand error. The youngster forced a mistake in the 12th game to grab another break and clinch the opener in 49 minutes before Roberto bounced back, losing four points on serve in set number two and mounting the pressure on the other side of the net.

He broke Tsitsipas in the third game with a backhand slice winner and stayed ahead all the time, closing the set with a service winner in game ten to level the overall score and keep himself in the competition. Things looked better and better for the more experienced player following his break in the fifth game of the third set thanks to a forehand winner but Stefanos was there to fight, breaking back at 3-4 to gain the momentum and make the set more interesting.

The Spaniard wasted a game point in the tenth game and Tsitsipas broke him with a crafty backhand winner, taking two sets to one lead and moving closer to the place in the semis. They saved the best for last, with 11 easy holds on both sides in set number four before Roberto had to play against the match point at 5-6.

He fends it off with a forehand down the line winner to set up a tie break where Tsitsipas was not to be denied, scoring four mini-breaks and sealing the deal in the ninth point with a service winner, starting a massive celebration of his most significant result in a career so far.

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