The German defeated Tsitsipas and the Russian defeated Zhang Zhizhen in the quarterfinals
MADRID, 4 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Greek tennis player Stefanos Tsitsipas stumbled (7-6(5), 5-7, 6-3) against the German Jan-Lennard Struff in the quarterfinals of the Mutua Madrid Open, the fourth Masters 1,000 of the season, who will face the Russian Aslan Karatsev 10 days after seeing himself in the preview.
Tsitsipas did not fulfill his favoritism to reach the penultimate round in the Caja Mágica, as he did last year, with a defeat against the German Alexander Zverev, and in 2019, when he later reached the final that he lost to the Serbian Novak Djokovic.
The Greek was looking for a second chance to lift the Madrid title, but the German got off him with authority, making it 3-3 in direct duels. Struff saved a set point to end up scoring the first set in sudden death. Despite the stick, the Greek reacted and forced the third, where he found himself in tow and unable to take advantage of his options.
Thus, Struff served the carom in the second semifinal in Madrid, citing for a place in the final with the one who was his executioner in the previous phase two weeks ago. The German, who entered the main draw as a ‘lucky loser’ to cover the loss of the Spanish Pablo Carreño, will face a Karatsev who eliminated (7-6 (3), 6-4) the Chinese Zhang Zhizhen.
Meanwhile, Karatsev left another great performance on the clay of the Mutua Madrid Open, with thirty winners to become the second tennis player from the previous phase to reach the penultimate round in the entire history of the tournament. The Russian stayed in a first-time duel in the quarterfinals of a Masters 1,000, he raised the three breaking points faced in the first set.
Then the former world number 14 unleashed his best shots in the second set to win after one hour and 40 minutes. After beating the top seeds Botic van de Zandschulp, Alex de Miñaur and Daniil Medvedev, the Russian aspires to continue his idyll in the Caja Mágica against a Struff team that he beat 6-4, 6-2 in the previous one.