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Tsitsipas weathers Paire, Medvedev commands in Australian Open 3rd round

Sports Desk, Jan 22 (EFE).- Second-seed Daniel Medvedev on Saturday cruised past Botic Van De Zandschulp, while Stefanos Tsitsipas ended Benoit Paire’s adventure in the third round of the Australian Open.

Medvedev proved to be more than the Dutchman could handle in a 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 win in a little under two hours to make the Australian Open last-16 for the fourth time in a row.

“Of course, I don’t want to stop (at) the fourth round but I’m really happy,” the Russian said afterwards.

“(At a) Grand Slam, every round is very tough and even today if the score doesn’t show this, I feel like it was a tighter match than the score,” the 2021 runner-up added.

The 2021 US Open champion took a 2-1 lead and fended off a late charge by the unseeded opponent while serving for the set, to take the opener.

A service break in the third game was all the Russian needed, alongside holding his own delivery, to double his lead before getting the job done thanks to third-set double break.

The world No. 2 will face off against US Maxime Cressy, who defeated Australian wildcard Christopher O’Connell 6-2 6-7, 6-3 6-2.

Tsitsipas, meanwhile, prevailed over Paire 6-3, 7-5, 6-7, 6-4 to keep alive his quest to become the youngest player to win the Australian Open since Rafael Nadal’s 2009 successful run.

The Greek ended the French’s Australian Open adventure that saw him knocking out former world No. 3 Grigor Dimitrov in the second round.

“Benoit is someone that I would say is one of the biggest talents in our game,” Tsitsipas said afterwards. “It was a very important victory for me.”

The 23-year-old stormed into a 3-0 lead, which proved to be enough for him to seal the first set.

In the second set, however, he had to wait until the 11th game to make a move, earning a crucial break that enabled him to serve for a 2-0 lead in the subsequent game.

Both players delivered on serve throughout the third set, with the Frenchman emerging victorious in the tiebreak. The Greek sealed the match on return in the 10th game of the fourth set.

Tsitsipas is set to take on US’ Taylor Fritz, who defeated Roberto Bautista Agut 6-0, 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Fifth-seed Andrey Rublev did not make the cut as he was stunned by the 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic 7-5, 7-6, 3-6, 6-3.

The Croatian will play against ninth-seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, who defeated Daniel Evans 6-4, 6-1, 6-1. EFE

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