Stefanos Tsitsipas advanced to the 4th round of the 2022 Australian Open after defeating French Benoît Paire with a 6-3 7-5 6-7 (2-7).
However, while the fans rose to applaud Tsitsipas and instead of rushing to the net to celebrate, the Greek fourth seed headed to the back of the court as if expecting another service game.
The umpire’s announcement of his victory sparked the realization that he had been victorious and he quickly turned around, with surprise on his face, to make his way to the net to shake Paire’s hand and then begin a proper celebration of his win. Twice a semi-finalist in Melbourne, Tsitsipas was nothing but complimentary of Paire after their hard-fought encounter.
“I’m pretty glad with the win. Benoit is one of the biggest talents in our game, he has a lot of feel for the game,” said Tsitsipas. “It was a very important victory for me today and also very special to be playing on this arena and sharing that with the crowd.”
Tsitsipas will play Taylor Fritz in the next round, after the American beat Roberto Bautista Agut in five sets on Saturday.