January 27, (THEWILL) – Novak Djokovic secured his spot in the Australian Open final for the tenth time in his career with a dominant straight-sets victory over American Tommy Paul.
The Serb, who has won the tournament nine times before, defeated Paul 7-5, 6-1, 6-2 at the Rod Laver Arena. The match was highlighted by a discussion between Djokovic and the umpire over an issue with the towels, which briefly disrupted Djokovic’s momentum in the first set.
Djokovic was in control from the start and quickly established a 5-1 lead in the first set. However, Paul managed to break Djokovic twice and get back on serve, only to drop a sloppy service game from 30-0. Djokovic regained his composure and won the first set 7-5. The Serb then went on to dominate the rest of the match, winning 6-1 and 6-2 to cruise to victory in two hours and 20 minutes. Djokovic will now look to add to his impressive record in Melbourne as he aims for his tenth Australian Open title.
In the final, he will now face Stefanos Tsitsipas on Sunday, where he will look to equal Rafael Nadal’s record of 22 major titles in men’s singles. The Serb has faced Tsitsipas once before, in an epic five-set French Open final in 2021, which Djokovic won after dropping the first two sets.
Reflecting on that game in his post-match comments, Djokovic said: “I won against Stefanos in Paris, so my recollections are very positive! I was two sets to love down, and that was the first time I came from behind like that in a Grand Slam final, so it was a really physical, mental and emotional battle.”
