The Serbian tennis player reaches his tenth final at the Australian Open after beating Tommy Paul comfortably and will aim to break the manacorí record against Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas
The King of Melbourne does not miss his appointment. Novak Djokovic returns to an Australian Open final after an overwhelming victory over American Tommy Paul (7-5, 6-1, 6-2) in the semifinals of the first Grand Slam of the year.
With tennis not as brilliant as against De Miñaur or Rublev, the Serb passed a Paul who surprised in some stages of the match, especially in the first round. At 5-1 to Djokovic, the American broke the Serb’s serve twice to tie the set. The Belgrade man returned the blow, breaking the American’s serve to take on the first act and get the game back on track.
The second and third set went quieter for Djokovic. Paul, playing his first Grand Slam semifinals, made more unforced errors and was more vulnerable serving, hence the seven breaks the Serb forced on him during the match.
With that there are ten Djokovic finals at the Australian Open and with the victory over Paul, the Serbian is on track for 27 consecutive victories in Melbourne. Since losing to Hyeon Chung in the 2018 round of 16, Djokovic has won all of his matches on Australian soil, including those in previous tournaments such as Adelaide or Sydney.
With a new final, number 33, the Serbian is just one game away from matching Rafa Nadal’s 22 Grand Slams. If Djokovic succeeds, who is a year younger than the Spaniard and in better physical shape, he would have what it takes to become the male tennis player with the most Grand Slams to his name. Moreover, if the Serb won his tenth Australian Open, he would also rise to world number one, ousting Carlos Alcaraz.
Tsitsipas, Djokovic’s rival in the last match, reached his second Grand Slam final after defeating Karen Khachanov in four sets (7-6, 6-4, 6-7 and 6-3), in a match that ended in it was generally dominated by the Greek. The Greek, like the Serbian, would be number one in the world if he won the final on Sunday, in which he will try to reach his first major.
“How am I? I am 110%. I have a positive memory of the challenge with Tsitsipas at Roland Garros. An emotional, stressful game, I have a lot of respect for Stefanos, it is one of the most interesting. We will fight for the number one in the world. May the best win,” the Serb told his rival in the final at the end of their semifinal.
The statistics are not encouraging for Tsitsipas. First of all, Djokovic has never lost a final at the Rod Laver Arena, and every time he reached the semifinals he lifted the trophy. In addition, the balance in their direct confrontations is 10-2 in favor of Djokovic. To remember, the 2021 Roland Garros final, in which the Serb came back two sets from the Greek to win the tournament. Two tennis players who come out on an excellent tennis level, but the data suggests that the Serb has it in his hands to win again on Australian soil.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
