Stefanos Tsitsipas follows an impeccable path to SF in Gstaad | ATP Tour

Gstaad

Tsitsipas continues his impeccable SF path in Gstaad

He will play against Berrettini for a place in the final

July 19, 2024

Stefanos Tsitsipas extended his perfect Lexus ATP Head2Head record against Fabio Fognini to 5-0 on Friday at the EFG Swiss Open Gstaad, where he claimed a 6-4, 6-3 victory to advance to the semi-finals.

The top seed in Gstaad managed to recover from an early break in both sets, thanks to his aggressive play from the baseline to counter Fognini’s big shots. The Greek scored a decisive break at 5-4 in the opening set before sealing victory in the second set in just 66 minutes.

“The return worked pretty well, I was very consistent. I was just trying to stay back the whole match, trying to get angles very early. It worked pretty well,” said Tsitsipas, who won 74% of points on his first serve according to Infosys ATP statistics.

“I’m happy with how I started serving at the end of the match. At the start, I was trying to open the court and create opportunities with my serve. It took me a while to find the way. I managed it at the end… I felt like I was doing everything right,” he added.

The 11-time ATP Tour champion, who has a 32-12 record this year, is chasing his second crown of the year. The 25-year-old Greek, who is making his first appearance in Gstaad, won his third trophy in Monte Carlo last April. The No. 12 in the PIF ATP Rankings will now face Matteo Berrettini in the semi-finals.

The Italian needed two hours and 10 minutes to beat Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime 7-6(7), 7-6(2) to qualify for his third semi-final of 2024.

In the lower half of the draw, fifth seed Jan-Lennard Struff advanced to his second semi-final of the season (he won the title in Munich), after beating fourth seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry 7-5, 3-6, 6-3. The German will next face Quentin Halys, who beat Brazilian qualifier Gustavo Heide 6-1, 7-5.

Halys, at 27, reached her second semi-final (Estoril 2023), after scoring a memorable point sitting on the court in the first set of her quarter-final match against Heide.

Did you know…?

Stefanos Tsitsipas is 14-1 against Italian opponents on clay, with his only loss coming against Jannik Sinner at Rome 2020.