INDIAN WELLS, California – Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia outlasted No. 2 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 to move into the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open with the biggest win of his career.
Ranked 36th in the world, Basilashvili’s previous biggest win came over then-No. 4 Juan Martin del Potro in the final at Beijing in 2018.
The 29-year-old from Georgia beat Tsitsipas for the first time in three tries. Ranked third, Tsitsipas has a leading 54 wins on the ATP Tour this year.
Basilashvili held at love to win the first set before Tsitsipas cruised through the second set.
In the third, Tsitsipas fell behind the baseline chasing a shot in the third game and came up limping. But the Greek shook it off and went on to break Basilashvili and then held for a 3-2 lead.
Basilashvili won three straight games for a 5-3 lead. Tsitsipas served three aces to trail 5-4. Basilashvili pulled out an ace of his own to set up match point and produced another big serve that Tsitsipas couldn’t return to close out the match in just over two hours.
“I have played really great matches this tournament,” Basilashvili said. “I was not that happy with how I played today but I was happy with how I managed my stress levels. First time in the quarter-finals and it is a big court and Stefanos is a super tough player. I had to keep my physical levels and energy levels in a really good shape because I knew mentally I would be a little bit tight and stressed.”
With his victory, the World No. 36 has reduced the deficit to 1-2 in his ATP Head2Head series against Tsitsipas. Before this year, Basilashvili had never won a main-draw match in Indian Wells in four previous appearances.
Basilashvili, who rallied from a set-and-a-break down in his third-round victory against Albert Ramos-Vinolas, has won tour-level titles in Doha and Munich this year. The 29th seed’s last Top 5 victory came against then-World No. 5 Alexander Zverev in Hamburg in 2019.
“I have spent a lot of time working hard,” Basilashvili added. “I have been playing really well. For me to overcome stressful moments I am really happy. I also found it here that the conditions don’t suit my game because the balls fly a lot, but this year I am playing well.”
In a lively first set, Basilashvili made a fast start as he broke in the opening game, causing Tsitsipas problems with his powerful groundstrokes. The Georgian controlled the tempo of the match, notching 14 winners in the first set as Tsitsipas struggled to find his rhythm from the baseline.
However, the Greek began to gain momentum in the second set as he dominated the longer rallies as he soaked up Basilashvili’s power. The 23-year-old did not face a break point on his serve as he levelled.
After breaks were exchanged in the third set, Basilashvili produced a strong return game and was gifted the lead when Tsitsipas double faulted on break to move 4-3 ahead. From there, the Georgian kept his composure, fending off pressure from Tsitsipas to hold serve twice to advance.
Tsitsipas was aiming to reach his third consecutive Masters 1000 semi-final in North America, having enjoyed a run to the last four in Toronto and Cincinnati. The Monte-Carlo champion has earned a tour-leading 54 victories this season.
