Novak Djokovic beats Paul and gets the Australian Open final: the match-point

Sunday final against Stefanos Tsitsipas: the winner takes it all!


by   |  VIEW 3372

Novak Djokovic beats Paul and gets the Australian Open final: the match-point

Novak Djokovic after three complicated rounds, definitively disposes of the problem in his left thigh and secures the tenth final at the Australian Open 2023, in an extraordinarily perfect way. After de Alex Minaur and Andrey Rublev, the Serbian champion gets rid of one of the revelation of the tournament, the US Tommy Paul, with an excellent 7-5 6-1 6-2.

Even if in reality the first set is slightly conditioned by a small empty pass. The Serbian champion, among other things chasing his tenth title at Melbourne Park, takes absolute control of the matter and leaves the crumbs on the street thanks to a performance that was then poor in spots.

Obviously, together with the tenth final in the Slam Down-Under, the Serbian matches Serena Williams in the Grand Slam finals ranking (33) and detaches Andre Agassi in the ranking of the most consecutive victories (26) in the Australian Grand Slam.

To find a defeat in Australia you have to even rewind the tape to five years ago.

Djokovic beats Paul and gets the Australian Open final

On the opposite side of the net Stefanos Tsitsipas, who confirms himself as an absolute protagonist after a tournament.

Similar situation to that of Flushing Meadows, with the first position in plain sight also for the Greek talent. And the winner takes it all. Tsitsipas reaches the second Slam final in his career thanks to the success against Karen Khachanov, who with everything at his disposal tries to put a spoke in the Greek's works.

Bravo at avoiding trouble in the tie break of the opening set, but above all at canceling the one of the third and closing on 7-6(4) 6-4 6-7(5) 6-3. In short: it will be a replay of the Bois de Boulogne 2021 match. In that case Djokovic had recovered two sets from a disadvantage before triumphing.

Among other things, the Greek became the tenth active player to reach more than one Grand Slam final in his career and the youngest to do so since 2011 at the Australian Open. Below the match point against Paul, which allowed Novak Djokovic to reach the Australian Open final:

Novak Djokovic Australian Open Stefanos Tsitsipas