Italian Open: Tsitsipas ousts Coric to set semi-final showdown against Medvedev

Rome: Stefanos Tsitsipas earned a commanding 6-3, 6-4 win over Borna Coric at the Italian Open to set a blockbuster semi-final against third seed Daniil Medvedev, here.

“He’s been playing well and I’m playing [well] also,” Tsitsipas said on court of his upcoming match against Medvedev, after his win on Thursday night.

“I feel good on court, regardless if it’s a night session or a day session and I really hope to bring the best out of me against him. I feel like he’s playing better than the years before,” he added.

Tsitsipas is now 13-3 this clay-court season and he has earned all four of his victories at the Foro Italico in straight sets. The 2022 Rome finalist saved three of the four break points he faced against Coric to advance after one hour and 36 minutes.

The Greek used a good mix of power and creativity, changing the spin on his shots and using his drop shot well. Coric missed a defensive backhand long to allow Tsitsipas to serve for the first set, which he did successfully.

The fifth seed appeared in full control when he hit a forehand passing shot to break in the second set, but he gave back his advantage in the next game.

Tsitsipas did not panic against a player who has rallied against him before. He earned his third service break of the match and then successfully served for his place in the semi-finals.

“This is clay-court tennis, things escalated quite quickly. And there was a turning point, but accompanied by my great shotmaking, at the very important moments, I was able to retrieve that and get back and hold,” Tsitsipas said.

“[I played] a great service game in the very last game, serving excellently and just feeling the energy point by point,” he added.

Medvedev leads Tsitsipas 7-4 in their ATP Head to Head series. However, the Greek has won three of their past four clashes, including a straight-sets victory two years ago in the Roland Garros quarter-finals.