Stefanos Tsitsipas is the No. 6-ranked men’s tennis star in the world and is the No. 5 seed at the Australian Open, so an upset of Rafael Nadal isn’t that far-fetched.
But it was the manner in which Tsitsipas took down the tennis legend on Wednesday at Rod Laver Arena, sending him to the semifinal: he came back from an 0-2 deficit in sets and won.
That’s right: in a Grand Slam, down 0-2, he won. How many times has that happened in Nadal’s unbelievable career? How about just two times in Grand Slams and three times overall?
Yep, that is pretty unreal.
HISTORY
Only two men have rallied from two sets down to beat Nadal at a Grand Slam:
🔸 Fabio Fognini (2015 US Open)
🔹 Stefanos Tsitsipas (2021 #AusOpen) pic.twitter.com/aVNDcThIR7— US Open Tennis (@usopen) February 17, 2021
Federer (Miami, 2005)
Fognini (US Open, 2015)
Tsitsipas (Australian Open, 2021)Nadal is beaten from 2 sets up for only the *third* time in his career 😧@steftsitsipas #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/hYOxTCOdZK
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 17, 2021
It took four hours and five minutes for Tsitsipas to win, which exhausted me just writing that.
🎾 Four hours and five minutes.
🎾 Third match point.
🎾 Second player ever to beat Rafa from two sets down at a Slam.
🎾 One match away from the #AusOpen final.Stefanos Tsitsipas wins a stunner Down Under, 3-6, 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4, 7-5.
HOW IT HAPPENED: https://t.co/fRxHRWFh9j
— TENNIS (@Tennis) February 17, 2021
What. A. Comeback.
Tsitsipas on Eurosport. "Before serving for the match, I whispered to myself that this game would be the toughest of my life. And it was".
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) February 17, 2021
"I'm speechless. I have no words."@steftsitsipas | #AO2021 | #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/pSfC4671Nd
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) February 17, 2021
