Australian Open: Focused fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas outlasts American Taylor Fritz in five sets

Stefanos Tsitsipas has likened his five-set victory over Taylor Fritz in the Australian Open fourth round to a game of chess, after needing all his powers of concentration to finally outmanoeuvre the hard-hitting American.

The deep-thinking Greek found himself in trouble, when he lost the first and third sets, but prevailed 4-6 6-4 4-6 6-3 6-4 to set up a last-eight clash with Italian Jannik Sinner.

Fourth seed Tsitsipas was outhit at times, but managed to solve the problems Fritz posed with some courageous tennis at the important moments of the match.

He was so focused on the moment that he sometimes got caught out by the shot clock before serving and appeared not to realise he had won the second set.

"It's just concentrating on building geometrical patterns and the structure of the game, I'm focused on every single ball I hit," the 23-year-old told Eurosport, after the match which finished after midnight.

"I'm trying to dictate play, see into the future if I do certain things, what's the next move? When I play chess, I also get lost into the game, and its a beautiful thing to be able to zone in so much and be in the present moment.

"It's like time slows down."

Tsitsipas soaked up everything Fritz could throw his way in the deciding set, making only four unforced errors.

His mental strength came to the fore, as Fritz finally buckled, netting a low volley at 4-4 to drop serve.

"The fifth set was the moment of the match where things got really physical and I was ready to be in that physical hustle, and put a lot of effort into every single point and make him work for every single point," Tsitsipas says.

Sinner will be another tough hurdle, but after the doubts at the back end of last year, when his elbow required fixing, Tsitsipas believes he is moving in the right direction.

"With the right mindset and with the right attitude and with the right development throughout the tournament, my chances are pretty good," Tsitsipas says.

Tsitsipas will attempt to reach the semi-finals for a third time in Melbourne, after achieving that last year and in 2019. He also reached last year's French Open final.

Reuters