the serbian Novak Djokovic (4) surpassed the American tommy paul 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 Open, tournament that he has won nine times.
His rival in the final will be the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (3), who defeated the Russian in the first semifinal this Friday Karen Khachanov (18) by 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-7 (6) and 6-3.
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The Serbian broke once again, after his last victory against the Russian Andrey Rublev (5), that his idyll with the Rod Laver Arena, a scene that saw him lift nine crowns, is indescribable.
With this new success, he became the player with the longest winning streak at the Australian Open (27), beating the American Andre Agassi.
Also probably his advantage over the Swiss Roger Federer, who has 31 appearances in Grand Slam finals, by getting the number 33, which 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 Rublev and the local Alex De Minaur (22), and his mobility, which was not as much as usual, prevented him from backhanding and opening the court as he would have liked. His limited proposal was enough to impose a 5-1 on the scoreboard, which was the function to wake up 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 against a crazy Djokovic with the chair umpire for his time management between point and point.
The point of the match occurred 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 the rod Laver, that touched the full.
endangered
Djokovic appeared at this moment, after wasting a favorable 5-1, the reason why he was considered one of the best in history and attacked from the rest to score an ‘in extremis’ break that meant 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 public who enjoyed 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 American alive in the draw lowered the intensity and the Serbian finished the set 6-1. Paul, prey to the mental and tennis superiority of the belgradeIt was impossible to find answers and he allowed himself to be carried out in a third sleeve that had the same color as the second but a different result (6-2).
«I’m perfectly fine,» Djokovic said after sealing his place in the final. «Obviously I’m not as fresh as at the beginning, but we put in a lot of hours in the preseason to be ready to fight the best of five sets. I can feel those long rallies in my legs,» he told American tennis player Jim Courier about Rod Laver Arena. .
The Balkan, who stayed just one game from the 22 greats of the Spanish Rafael NadalHe has a strong face-to-face (10-2) against his next rival, the Greek Tsitsipas, which includes victories on the last nine occasions.
The comeback
Alluding to the end of Roland Garros In 2021, in which he beat Tsitsipas after going two sets down, Djokovic commented: «It was the first time I came back from 2-0 in a Grand Slam final, it was also his first final. He is one of the most interesting guys of the circuit, with his long hair… Let the best player win». The Greek does not have a Grand Slam title in his history, although he did win the ATP finals in 2019.
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EFE