Lehecka, who had never won a Grand Slam match before arriving in Melbourne, used his powerful baseline game to hold off Tsitsipas in the second set, but the Greek raised his game to easily win on a tie-break.
The Greek was forced to save three consecutive break points at 3-3 in the third set, when the Czech threatened to extend the clash at Rod Laver Arena, but sealed the match in three sets soon after.
For his part, Khachanov will play his first semifinal in Australia after Sebastian Korda withdrew injured when trailing 7-6(5), 6-3, 3-0, ending the American’s hopes of emulating his father Petr’s triumph. at Melbourne Park in 1998.
The 29th-seeded Korda battled with a right wrist problem that required treatment twice during the match at Rod Laver Arena before throwing in the towel in the third set.
“Obviously, it’s not the way you want to end a match,” said Russian Khachanov, the 18th seed at the Australian Open. “I think to some extent, it was very competitive, a very good battle.”
Source: Ambito
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