Tsitsipas Staves Off Upset Bid In Basel

Stefanos Tsitsipas avoided an upset bid on Thursday at the Swiss Indoors Basel, rallying past Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals of the ATP 500 tournament. It is the Greek’s 13th quarter-final of the season, equalling Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut for the ATP Tour-lead.

Berankis has not made an ATP Tour quarter-final since Dubai, but the World No. 70 had momentum on his side against Tsitsipas, leading 7-6(4), 1-0 and earning a 0/30 advantage on Tsitsipas’ serve. But the third seed maintained his composure, and dominated his service games the rest of the match to triumph after two hours and one minute.

After reaching the Citi Open semi-finals in August, Tsitsipas lost five of six matches and appeared to be struggling for form. But the reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion, who has booked his spot at the Nitto ATP Finals 10-17 November for the first time, has bounced back well over the past month. The 21-year-old made the China Open final and the Rolex Shanghai Masters semi-finals, and that confidence showed in his victory against Berankis.

After some uncharacteristic errors from Tsitsipas allowed the Lithuanian to earn the first set, the Greek buckled down and raised his level. Although Berankis played inspired tennis and competed well with the World No. 7, Tsitsipas’ variety of weapons proved too much to overcome in the big moments. On his first match point, Tsitsipas fired a cross-court forehand that Berankis could not handle, celebrating with a fist pump.

Tsitsipas only faced one break point in the match, and he won 75 per cent of his second-serve points, preventing Berankis from going on the offensive unless he did so from tough positions. The Greek will next face ATP Race To London contender Fabio Fognini or Serbian Filip Krajinovic.

Berankis was trying to claim his third Top 10 win (2-10), with his two previous triumphs coming against Milos Raonic, including a first-round upset in Basel three years ago. If Berankis defeated Tsitsipas, it would have been the fourth straight year in which a qualifier had made the quarter-finals or better in Basel.