Stefanos Tsitsipas has his sights on first French Open title after reaching the last four

Greek brushes aside world No 2 Daniil Medvedev to reach the semi-finals in Paris

Stefanos Tsitsipas celebrates after winning against Russia's Daniil Medvedev during their quarter-final on Day 10 of The Roland Garros 2021 French Open. AFP

Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas celebrates. AFP

Russia's Daniil Medvedev makes a point to the umpire. AFP

Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas on his way to victory. AFP

Germany's Alexander Zverev on his way to victory over Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. AFP

Stefanos Tsitsipas believes he can go on and win the French Open after battling past world No 2 Daniil Medvedev to reach the semi-finals in Paris.

"I was playing against one of the best guys on the tour and I had to keep up the intensity, elevate my game during the entire match," said the Greek fifth seed after his 6-3, 7-6, 7-5 victory.

"I felt I was playing really good, not giving him much space to do things and I think my performance was close to one of the best this week."

Tsitsipas, the loser of his previous three Grand Slam semis, later said he believed he could go on and claim the title.

"I don't think there's a player out there that thinks they can't win the tournament," he said.

"Of course I'm playing good, and I think if I keep repeating the process, keep repeating the everyday hustle that I put, for sure there's going to be a reward, and why not?"

Tsitsipas settled quickly on the empty Philippe Chatrier, with spectators still not able to attend the late match because of a curfew under coronavirus restrictions, and capitalised on an early break to take the opening set in 31 minutes.

After trailing 3-1 in the second, Medvedev recovered composure to level at 3-3, but failed to take two set-point chances in the 10th game.

Tsitsipas then took control of the tie-break, claiming a mini-break on the first point before a double hold to move 3-0 ahead.

Medvedev returned to court following a toilet break having changed into an all-white kit, and responded with fresh energy to break Tsitsipas in the fifth game - only for the world No 5 to break back then lead 5-4.

The Russian had a heated exchange with the chair umpire over a first serve he felt was disturbed by a cameraman up in the stands, before holding at 5-5.

Tsitsipas, though, stayed focused to battle on and force a first match-point chance - which he took after Medvedev, who had been 40-love up, tried an underhand serve and the Greek dispatched a backhand down the line to claim a hard-earned win.

The 22-year-old, beaten by Novak Djokovic in the 2020 semi-finals at Roland Garros, will go on to meet Alexander Zverev, who had earlier coasted past Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in straight sets.

Medvedev said his underarm serve was a bold tactic on match point, but "I won't say it was a mistake".

"I was thinking about it during the whole match, like that maybe in the important point I could do it because he was quite far back in the court, so that can always work," Medvedev said.

"But well, it didn't work out at all. He had an easy ball to finish. He made it. But again, as I say, it was tactical."

Zverev had earlier cruised into the semi-finals of the French Open for the first time with a 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 win over Davidovich Fokina.

Zverev also has his sights on a maiden Grand Slam title, the German finishing runner-up to Dominic Thiem in the 2020 US Open final when he had been in front by two sets.

"We will see how it is on Friday, but for now, it is great to be here," Zverev said.

"I know that the matches are not going to get easier, the opponents there are extremely difficult to beat, so I've got to play the same or raise my level even higher to have a chance."

The German added: "Obviously the Grand Slams are the tournaments that we want to win the most and before, maybe the last few years, I was putting too much pressure on myself.

"I feel like now maybe I have learned how to deal with the situation a little bit better, am maybe a little bit calmer at the tournaments, but the end goal hasn't changed.

"Hopefully I can say that, slowly but surely, I am starting to get the hang of it."