In a major upset, defending champion Roger Federer bowed out of the ongoing Australian Open after being stunned by Greek player Stefanos Tsitsipas in the pre-quarters round of the men's singles event here at the Rod Laver Arena on Sunday.
Federer was handed over an unexpected 7-6, 6-7, 5-7, 6-7 defeat by his 20-year-old opponent in a tight, dramatic match that lasted three hours and 45 minutes.
With the victory, Stefanos has booked a maiden Australian Open quarter-final berth for himself and denied Federer a chance to clinch his seventh Grand Slam title here in Melbourne.
Moreover, the Greek player also became the youngest Australian Open quarter-finalist since Nick Kyrgios (19 years, 280 days) in 2015.
In a close opening set, Federer failed to convert two break points but later, the six-time Australian open champion revived himself and saved three set points. He eventually took the game away from his opponent and won the first set 7-6 after a long battle of 58 minutes.
The Swiss player continued with his solid serve in the second set as well but his failure to capitalise on some crucial moments cost him dearly. Some forehand errors from Federer and some quick reflexes from Stefanos resulted in former losing the second set 6-7.
The 20-times Grand Slam champion was expected to come back strongly after the second set debacle but the Greek player managed to keep an upper hand. Stefanos went on to clinch the next two sets putting his opponent under immense pressure in the fourth set.
Like the previous three sets, the fourth set was also played till the tie-break round. Moving parallel to each other at one point of time, both the players kept their game steady.
At 5-5, Stefanos smashed the ball to get to his first match point. With a driven cross-court forehand, the number 14 seed sealed the match and the quarter-final berth of the Australian Open.
Stefanos will face Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain their quarter-final clash of the tournament.
In other matches, world number seven Marin Cilic was knocked out of the tournament by Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain who defeated the former 6-7, 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 to reach his maiden Australian Open quarter-final.
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