Novak Djokovic (5th) surpassed the American tommy paul (35th) to play the final of the Australian Open on Sunday against the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (4th), his last obstacle to match Rafael Nadal’s 22 Grand Slams.
Although far from his best, especially in the first set, the world number 5 edged out Paul by 7-5, 6-1, 6-2 to secure his tenth final in Melbourne, with a balance of all of them won.
Not only the title will be at stake, but also the number 1 of the ATP, now in the hands of the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz. “Winning Grand Slams and being number one in the world are probably the highest peaks you can reach as a professional tennis player. So let’s see what happens“, said nole
Source: AFP
Tsitsipas vs. Djokovic in last year’s scandal in Australia
“It makes us look stupid… nobody thought that you could come to Australia without getting vaccinated and without taking into account the protocols. It really takes a lot of courage to do it anyway and risk participation in a Grand Slam tournament. It’s certainly something almost nobody could do,” Tsitsipas said at the Gazetta dello Sport.
Asked if the Serb should be able to play the Australian Open, he said: “There are two points of view: on the one hand, almost all the players are completely covered by the vaccine and followed the rules, the other is that Djokovic has preferred to follow his path and make a fool of others“. According to the latest data published by the ATP, 97 players from the top 100 in the ranking are vaccinated regularly.
The history between Djokovic and Tsitsipas in a Grand Slam final
The Greek, who has yet to win a Grand Slam title, lost to Djokovic in the final of Roland Garros 2021.
On that occasion Nole won in five sets, after lifting an initial disadvantage of two sets, by 6-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 and 6-4.
The women’s final of the Australian Open
the kazakh Elena Rybakina (25th of the WTA) and the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka (5th) will go this Saturday.
Both will seek to succeed the Australian Ashleigh Bartythe player who surprisingly announced her retirement last season, at the age of 25.
