Eighteen years after something similar happened at Wimbledon, 20-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas, perhaps, signalled a changing of the guard at the top of world tennis as he shocked defending champion Roger Federer in the Australian Open fourth round Sunday.
The NextGen Finals champion in 2018 inflicted the first defeat on Federer in two years in Melbourne. The Swede, 17 years his senior, went down in four sets after drawing first blood 6-7 (11-13), 7-6 (7/3), 7-5, 7-6 (7/5) at the Rod Laver Arena.
Tsitsipas, seeded 14, became the first Greek in history to reach the quarter-finals of a Slam where he will meet Spain’s 22nd seed Roberto Bautista Agut.
The lights-out performance from Tsitsipas, who has been touted as a future star, reminded many fans of the Wimbledon 2001 fourth round match between Federer and Pete Sampras.
That, and many congratulatory messages, flooded Twitter after what was a match for the ages.
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