Rogers Cup, Toronto

Men’s Semifinal: [27] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) vs. [6] Kevin Anderson (RSA)

Anderson was the fourth top ten player to fall at the hands of the Greek teenager.  It started with the number seven seed in the second round. Tsitsipas defeated the eighth ranked player, Dominic Thiem, in straight sets. Next he faced the tenth ranked player, Novak Djokovic and defeated him in three sets. It did not get any easier for the teenager as he faced the defending champion and the third ranked player, Alexander Zverev, in the quarterfinals. He fought off match points to upset Zverev in three sets.

That is how Tsitsipas got to his first Masters semifinal.  After squandering a lead in the first set tiebreak to lose to the set to Anderson, he had to dig himself out of a hole.  He got a little help from Anderson, who has shown that he can be vulnerable in pressure situations.  One set would decide if Anderson would get to his second Masters final or if it would be another first for Tsitsipas?

It was a set wrought with emotions as both players got anxious and unforced errors mounted. Perhaps the memory of having defeated Anderson earlier this year gave him a little more confidence; whatever the reason, the teenager never stopped fighting. Even though he had an opportunity to win the set before the tiebreak and even when he double faulted on his first match point, he was not discouraged.

The experience should have been on Anderson’s side; however, never underestimate the bravado of youth. Tsitsipas is learning rapidly and he made adjustments throughout the match to counter the big serve of his opponent; he also recognized the limited mobility of his opponent and used the whole court to his full advantage. One more backhand error from Anderson and the match belonged to Tsitsipas [6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(7)].

SOURCE OF IMAGE:  Zimbio.com (Michael Steele/Getty Images Europe- Stefanos Tsitsipas)