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How Stefanos Tsitsipas' grand slam progression compares to the current greats

How Stefanos Tsitsipas' grand slam progression compares to the current greats
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The Greek player reached his maiden grand slam semi-final after beating Roberto Bautista Agut in Melbourne.

Stefanos Tsitsipas continued his breakthrough grand slam by beating Roberto Bautista Agut to reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open.

The 20-year-old Greek had already seen off Roger Federer and is at the forefront of a group of players looking to depose the long-standing kings of the men's game.

Here, Press Association Sport assesses how Tsitsipas' big moment compares to the current greats.

Roger Federer

Stefanos Tsitsipas, left, defeated Roger Federer in the Australian Open fourth round on Sunday
Tsitsipas, left, defeated Federer in the Australian Open fourth round on Sunday (Andy Brownbill/AP)

Tsitsipas grew up idolising Federer and his victory over the Swiss has already been compared to a 19-year-old Federer defeating Pete Sampras in the fourth round of Wimbledon in 2001. Tsitsipas has already gone one better, with Federer losing his next match to Tim Henman. It took another two years for Federer to win his maiden slam title at Wimbledon.

Rafael Nadal

Tsitsipas is playing in the main draw of a grand slam for the seventh time – one more than it took Nadal to win his first title, aged just 19, at the French Open in 2005. It was his debut at Roland Garros and he would not lose there until a shock fourth-round defeat by Robin Soderling four years later. Nadal had his slam breakthrough outside of Paris at Wimbledon in 2006 when he reached the final, losing to Federer.

Novak Djokovic

Djokovic's talents were well known and his grand slam progression was a little more gradual. He reached back-to-back semi-finals at the French Open and Wimbledon, where he won long matches against Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis in 2007 aged 20, and then made the final of the US Open before beating Federer on his way to a first title at the Australian Open in 2008.

Andy Murray

Andy Murray burst onto the scene with a straight-sets victory over Andy Roddick at Wimbledon in 2006
Andy Murray burst onto the scene with a straight-sets victory over Andy Roddick at Wimbledon in 2006 (Rebecca Naden/PA)

Murray shot to prominence through his exploits at Wimbledon, beating Andy Roddick as a teenager in 2006, but it was at the US Open two years later where he really made his slam breakthrough by beating Stan Wawrinka, Juan Martin Del Potro and Nadal back-to-back to make the final, which he lost to Federer.

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Novak Djokovic in action at the Australian Open on January 21, 2019
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