With the ATP No. 1 spot in dispute, Novak Djokovic and Stefanos Tsitsipas will meet in the final of the Australian Open this Sunday.
the serbian Novak Djokovic (5th in the ATP) surpassed the American Tommy Paul (35th) by a clear 7-5, 6-1 and 6-2 in two hours and 20 minutes and will play, for the tenth time in his career, the final of the australian opena tournament that he has won nine times.
The Serbian once again demonstrated that his idyll with the Rod Laver Arena, a venue that saw him lift nine crowns, is indescribable. With this new success, he became the player with the longest winning streak in the oceanic tournament (27), beating the American Andre Agassi.
He also extended his advantage over the Swiss Roger Federer, who has 31 appearances in Grand Slam finals, by getting number 33which equals the American Serena Williams in the general classification of men and women led by the also American Chris Evert.
The man from Belgrade finished the duel with the positive note of 12 direct aces and 31 winners, and with the negative of 39 unforced errors, of which 24 came in the first set.
He did not start the match at the level he did in his last two games against Andrey Rublev (6th) and the local Alex De Miñaur (24th), and his mobility, which was not as much as usual, prevented him from backhanding and opening the track as you would have liked.
His limited proposal was enough to impose a 5-1 on the scoreboard, which served to awaken a shrunken Paul by a situation and environment unknown to him. The American’s reaction was unappealable and he recovered a double-break against all odds, before a crazy Djokovic with the chair umpire for his time management between point and point.
The point of the match came during the 5-3, game that would end with a break for the American, after an exhausting rally that Paul himself scored and that unleashed a tremendous ovation from Rod Laver, who was close to a full house.
Djokovic showed at this moment, after wasting a favorable 5-1, the reason why he is considered one of the best in history and attacked from the rest to score a break ‘in extremis’ that meant the 7-5.
Paul turned his cap back and tried to forget his unfinished comeback, but the Serb punished with an intelligent proposal in which he varied angles and heights for the enjoyment of a mostly Australian audience that was enjoying a festive Friday in the oceanic country.
The American had the opportunity to recover the ‘break’ from a 2-0 deficit, but the Serbian kept his cool to save up to three break points and land in the middle with a resounding 3-0.
The last living American in the box lowered the intensity and the Serbian finished the set 6-1.
Paul, prey to the mental and tennis superiority of the man from Belgrade, was unable to find answers and got carried away in a third sleeve that had the same color as the second but different result (6-2).
#AusOpen semifinals: ✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️#AusOpen finals: ????????????????????????????????????❓
Will X mark the spot for @DjokerNole on Sunday?@wwos • @espn • @eurosport • @wowowtennis • #AO2023 pic.twitter.com/lcx6Wnm3dT
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 27, 2023
Tsitsipas will look for the 1st of the ATP in the final of the Australian Open
the greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (4th) fulfilled against the Russian Karen Khachanov (20th), which he beat 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-7 (6) and 6-3 to qualify for a final of the Australian Open in which he will challenge Novak Djokovic.
The Athens player had to face a delicate situation, which occurred after not closing the two match points that he had in the tiebreaker game of a third set that would fall on the Muscovite’s side.
Regarding their semifinal clash this Friday, the Greek was not able to shield his serve (46% success with first) and take advantage of the problems that his rival Khachanov went through with the same shot. The Russian only won 57% of the points with first and had a 62% success with this serve.
They broke serve up to four times and extended the initial set to a tiebreaker game, that he would fall on the side of the Greek by a resounding 7-2.
The only Hellenic representative in the draw improved with the serve, who went from 46% to 72% success with first, and did not concede any breaking point against a Khachanov who conceded the break with the 4-4, which would mean the later 6-4.
Tsitsipas continued with his success on the serve and his concentration on the rest, to direct a third set that seemed to be the final one when he acquired a clear Greek color with the 5-3.
It was at this moment that Khachanov stepped forward to break from 5-4 and cheer on a crowd drowsy from the intense heat that Melbourne Park presented.
The one from Athens had his opportunity again to close the match in three sets, when he had two balls for it during the tiebreaker game of the third set, but nerves showed up for the first time in the match and made him miss an apparently simple shot that gave wings to a Khachanov who left emboldened to the locker room.
After the return of the Muscovite, Tsitsipas corroborated the psychological evolution experienced at this start of the season and his tennis quality did not drop in the face of a more distracted Khachanov.
He closed the game with a definitive 6-3 to get what was his first ticket to a final of the Australian Open. If he prevails against ‘Nole’, the Greek will be the 1st of the ATP for the first time in his career.
A sizzling semifinal ends in Greek glory ???????? @steftsitsipas overcomes a valiant Karen Khachanov to reach his first #AusOpen final.
It ends 7-6(2) 6-4 6-7(6) 6-3 ????#AO2023 pic.twitter.com/jsik2uaovL
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 27, 2023