Decoding the stats of Stefanos Tsitsipas on hard courts
What's the story
Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas stormed into the quarter-final of the 2022 Australian Open on Monday. The 23-year-old beat Taylor Fritz 4-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 after three hours and 22 minutes. Tsitsipas will next face Jannik Sinner for a spot in his fifth Grand Slam semi-final. The former is vying for his fifth title on hard courts. Here, we decode Tsitsipas' hard-court record.
Context
Why does it matter?
Tsitsipas was in terrific form in 2021, having finished with two titles. However, none of these came on hard courts. The Greek was one of the few players to have won over 50 matches in the season (56-20). Tsitsipas was only behind Daniil Medvedev (66-14), Alexander Zverev (61-16), and Casper Ruud (59-18) in terms of ATP match wins.
Information
Tsitsipas is 121-67 on hard courts
Tsitsipas is 121-67 on hard courts. Notably, four of his seven total titles have come on this surface (2018: Stockholm. 2019: Marseille, ATP Finals. 2020: Marseille. The Greek failed to win any title on hard courts in 2021.
Title
Tsitsipas won his maiden ATP title on hard court
Tsitsipas won his maiden ATP title on hard court (2018). He defeated Latvian Ernests Gulbis 6-4, 6-4 in the final to win in Stockholm, an ATP 250 tournament. Tsitsipas overcame 14th seed Fabio Fognini in the semi-final. The former beat John Millman (last 16) and Philipp Kohlschreiber (quarter-final) en route to the penultimate clash. Tsitsipas lost only one set in the tournament.
Information
Fifth-most hard-court wins in 2021
Tsitsipas finished 2021 with fifth-most match-wins (33-14) on hard courts. He had more match-wins than world number Novak Djokovic (30-4), who won the Australian Open last year. Overall, Tsitsipas was behind Medvedev, Zverev, Jannik Sinner, and Andrey Rublev.
ATP Finals
Tsitsipas won the ATP Finals in 2019
In 2019, Tsitsipas qualified for the ATP Finals, the year-end championship, for the first time in his career. The Greek overcame both Medvedev and Zverev to reach the knockout stage. Tsitsipas claimed a straight-set victory over Swiss maestro Roger Federer in the semi-final. The former defeated Dominic Thiem to become the youngest champion of ATP Finals since Lleyton Hewitt in 2001.
Marseille
The last of Tsitsipas' four hard-court titles came in Marseille
Tsitsipas won his fifth ATP title in 2020 (Marseille).
He defeated Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-4 in the final to win the ATP 250 tournament.
Tsitsipas overcame Alexander Bublik in the semi-final (7-5, 6-3).
The former defeated Mikael Ymer (last 16) and Vasek Pospisil (quarter-final) en route to the semis.
Tsitsipas did not drop a set in the tournament.