Stefanos Tsitsipas found another gear when it counted to fend off Jannik Sinner in a five-set thriller and reach the Australian Open quarterfinals in a rare win for the high seeds on Sunday.
A year after dumping Sinner out in the quarters at Melbourne Park, third seed Tsitsipas crushed the Italian's hopes of a great escape as he held firm to complete a 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3 victory at a heaving Rod Laver Arena.
While the Greek dominated for two sets as Sinner roared back into the match, Tsitsipas captured the decisive break in the sixth game of the decider before sealing it in style with a cross-court forehand winner.
"It was a long match. I feel like I've spent a century on this court," Tsitsipas said of the match, which lasted just over four hours.
"It was a ripper, as they say here. I can feel my face burning from the effort today."
The three-time Australian Open semifinalist will meet unseeded 21-year-old Czech Jiri Lehecka for a place in the last four.
