Tim Henman has praised the mentality of Stefanos Tsitsipas during his semi-final clash with Karen Khachanov.
Tsitsipas recovered from a wobble in the third set after frittering away two match points, eventually defeating the Russian 7-6(2), 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-3 and securing his place in Sunday’s final.
In the past, Tsitsipas has struggled with not letting his emotions get the better of him, but Henman acknowledged an improvement in the Greek’s mentality – putting it down to the maturity that experience breeds.
‘’His mentality is impressive,’’ Henman told Eurosport.
‘’When things are going well, it’s not complicated, but you can get frustrated when things go wrong and you get distracted.
"We have seen that in the past, with the dialogue between Tsitsipas and his box. At the end of the third set, that was the perfect time for him to get frustrated, but he didn’t.
"That shows the maturity and experience that he has now. He knew he was still in control of the match, coming out early in the fourth set and re-asserted his authority.
‘’There was only going to be one winner.’’
Former world No. 1 John McEnroe was equally as impressed as he indicated that Tsitsipas is playing well enough to win his first major and become the new world No. 1.
‘’I thought the forehand was unbelievable, some of the biggest shots I’ve seen, and I’ve watched tennis for a long time," McEnroe said.
"There was one game - at the end of the second set - I’ve never seen a guy hit six or seven winners off the return consistently that hugely and that accurately, but then he choked.
"He got tight when he should have won it in three easy sets. I hand it to him that he re-grouped. He showed a lot of composure and maturity, getting the job done.
"Hats off to both guys. Khachanov has never beaten Tsitsipas, he had lost 20 times in a row to top guys but kept battling. But Stefanos - we have been waiting for his big breakthrough - here is his chance, to win a major and be world No. 1.’’
Tsitsipas will take on 21-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s showdown.
More must-reads: