June 11, (THEWILL)- The first finalist of the year’s French Open has emerged through a record-breaking semi-final fixture as Stefanos Tsitsipas made history for his country on Friday. The Greek beat German opponent Alexander Zverev in a five-set classic thriller to reach the final.
The victory made Tsitsipas the first Greek to reach a Grand Slam final, in what was an enormous moment for the player and country, as the 22-year-old amassed a tour-leading 39 match wins in the season, including 22 on clay courts.
The remarkable display means the Greek will, on Sunday, attempt to win his first Grand Slam title and like Iga Swiatek did in last year’s event, be on course to write both his and his country’s name into the history books permanently.
It will not be an easy occasion as standing in his way will be either 13-time champion at Roland Garros, Rafael Nadal, or world number one Novak Djokovic.
But, Tsitsipas has more than earned his place with the biggest stars. In what was his third successive Grand Slam semi-final, the 22-year-old succeeded to edge a step further in a thrilling five-setter against Zverev. Their semi-final took three hours and 37 minutes and tested the mettle of each semi-finalist. But the Greek triumphed in the end.
The victory was not without controversy, however, because midway through the third set, Zverev let out all his frustration in a foul-mouthed rant at the umpire after a dubious line call at a crucial moment in the set.
It happened that while Zverev was holding a 5-3 lead with a break and Tsitsipas was serving, the initial line call following a deep forehand from the Greek was ‘out’. But, the umpire overruled, deeming that it was actually in, which made Zverev furious and he proceeded to let rip at the umpire in a furious rant at the net while also protesting to the match referee on the sidelines.
That moment apart, Zverev endured another hugely frustrating defeat in the latter stages of a Slam even though he demonstrated enormous composure to roar back from two sets down and force the match into a deciding fifth set.
Credit must go to Tsitsipas, who was impressive in mixing up his play throughout and deserved the win. It looked as though he was on the verge of not making it with the progress Zverev made to level the sets but his more attacking and assertive play gave him the final and deciding set.
In his on-court post-match comments, the Greek said: “All I can think of is my roots, where I came from. I came from a really small place outside Athens. My dream was to play here, to play at the big stage at the French Open. I never would have thought that I would.
“It was nerve-wracking and so intense. I came back and stayed alive, I had the crowd with me, who were giving me their energy.
“It was very difficult and very emotional. This win means a lot. This win is the most important one of my career so far.
“There were a lot of people in Greece cheering for me and I am very happy that Greece is part of the tennis community more now. I’m very happy that me and Maria [Sakkari] have been keeping the hopes of Greek tennis alive.”
As Djokovic and Nadal clash in Friday’s second semi-final on Court Philippe Chatrier, with the pair facing off in what is a repeat of last year’s final, which the Spaniard won for his 13th crown in Paris, Tsitsipas will be watching to know who his final opponent will be on Sunday.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
