Stefanos Tsitsipas has extended an 'official' invitation to Australian actor and producer Margot Robbie after his Australian Open quarterfinal win over Jiri Lehecka on Tuesday (January 24) night.
The third seed put in an impressive shift at Rod Laver Arena against the unseeded Lehecka. Tsitsipas was locked in from the get go, conceding only three sets in the opener. In a competitive second, the Greek asserted his supremacy to take a two-set lead.
It was more of the same in the third. Tsitsipas rode a late break to register his fifth win of the fortnight to reach his third straight semifinal at Melbourne Park.
In his on-court interview with Jim Courier, Tsitsipas said that he would like to extend an invitation to his favorite actress Margot Robbie to watch one of his matches.
"Australia is such an amazing country. I have a lot of Aussie fans. One of my favourite actresses comes from Australia - Margot Robbie," he said.
On being prodded by Courier if he was 'pitching' an official invitation to Robbie to be in attendance, Tsitsipas said:
"Absolutely."
Tsitsipas will take on Karen Khachanov on Thursday (January 26) for a place in his first Australian Open final.
"It felt different this time from any other match" - Stefanos Tsitsipas
Stefanos Tsitsipas was a man on a mission against Lehecka, registering his fourth straight-set win of the fortnight.
However, he had no qualms admitting that the win was anything but straightforward, continuing in his on-court interview:
“It felt different this time from any other match (this week), but the most important thing is that at the end I found a solution. It was a very difficult three-setter, one of the most difficult ones that I had so far in the competition."
He also commended his opponent, saying:
“I think Jiri had a very good tournament. He is someone who started playing well recently, and I wish him the best in the future, because he is a great player.”
"I had to deal with the groundstrokes that were coming off the racquet from the other side of the court much heavier, much deeper. So that was a task in which I had to really put my heart out there and give it my best," continued Tsitsipas.
With the win, Tsitsipas extended his perfect Grand Slam quarterfinal record to 6-0. He now moves to within two wins of a first Major title and becoming the new World No. 1.