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Ricky’s preview and pick for the Australian Open quarterfinal between Tsitsipas and Sinner

Jannik Sinner of Italy wins his fourth round match against Alex de Minaur of Australia at the Australian Open. EPA-EFE/DAVE HUNT

By Ricky Dimon

Is Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Jannik Sinner a battle between two future Grand Slam champions? It’s possible, if not even probable.

And the future could be now.

Although they aren’t the absolute favorites, both Tsitsipas and Sinner have realistic title hopes heading into their quarterfinal clash at the Australian Open on Wednesday. Tsitsipas is the No. 4 player in the world and he came within one set of winning the 2021 French Open (lost to Novak Djokovic from two sets up). Sinner has surged into the top 10 and is playing especially well at the moment.

The Italian is playing much better than Tsitsipas, in fact. Sinner is 7-0 so far this season and dating back to the 2021 campaign his winning streak stands at 10. He booked his spot in the Aussie Open quarterfinals by beating Joao Sousa, Steve Johnson, Taro Daniel, and Alex de Minaur–dropping just one set to Daniel in the process.

Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece reacts during his fourth round singles match against Taylor Fritz at the Australian Open. EPA-EFE/JAMES ROSS

Tsitsipas was unsure if he would even play in this event because of an elbow problem. The 23-year-old’s results have been a disaster, too, dating back to that heartbreaker at Roland Garros. However, he has done extremely well to reach the quarterfinals Down Under despite being nowhere near his best.

Tsitsipas cruised past Mikael Ymer in his opening match and then battled through tough ones against Sebastian Baez (four sets), Benoit Paire (four), and Taylor Fritz (five). The fourth seed arguably had no business beating Fritz on Monday night, but he was superior to the American from a mental standpoint throughout the fourth and fifth sets.

Fritz let Tsitsipas off the hook. Sinner probably won’t be as generous. Despite being in the very early stages of his career, this is already the 20-year-old’s fourth trip to the second week of a slam–including a quarterfinal run at the 2020 French Open. Tsitsipas’ game can’t hang with Sinner’s at the moment, and the Greek may not have any advantage in the department of intangibles, either.

It won’t be entirely routine, but Sinner has the edge.

Pick: Sinner in 4

Ricky contributes to10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.