Tsitsipas battles his way into Rotterdam Open quarterfinals

Australian Open finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas held off a stubborn challenge from Hubert Hurkacz to reach the quarterfinals of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament with a 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 win on Thursday.

Hurkacz saved a match point 5-4 in the decider and then came within two points of forcing a tiebreaker. Tsitsipas is 8-1 in matches in 2021, with his sole loss coming to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final.

Tsitsipas will next face Russian Karen Khachanov, who spent Thursday playing doubles after beating Cameron Norrie in the second round Wednesday.

Qualifier Jeremy Chardy upset sixth-seeded David Goffin 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5) to progress to his third tour quarterfinal this season. That’s a big improvement for the French player after Chardy went all of 2020 without recording back-to-back wins on tour in a 3-7 season. Chardy plays fourth-seeded Andrey Rublev.

Tommy Paul of the U.S. beat Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-1 to set up a quarterfinal against either Alejandro Davidovich Fokina or Marton Fucsovics.

Paul hit a behind-the-back shot at 4-1 up in the deciding set, reacting quickly after Bublik’s backhand took a deflection off the net cord.