January 27, (THEWILL) – Stefanos Tsitsipas has reached his second Grand Slam final after defeating Karen Khachanov, in a hard-fought match.
The Greek player won 7-6(2) 6-4 6-7(6) 6-3 to move on to the final, where he will play either Novak Djokovic or Tommy Paul. Tsitsipas lost to Djokovic in the 2021 French Open final and had to battle through a tough match against Khachanov, who fought back after Tsitsipas had served for the match in the third set.
It was a semi-final filled with drama and tension, with both players sharing four breaks of serve in the first set. A key moment came at 5-5 when Tsitsipas was given a time violation during his first serve at 0-15. The crowd got involved, and the Greek star double-faulted on his second serve. However, Tsitsipas served himself out of trouble, as he had done numerous times in the tournament, and dominated the tie-break.
The second set was also a tight battle, with the first eight games being shared. Tsitsipas broke Khachanov with some stunning forehands and served out the set with a love hold. He was looking odds on to win in straight sets when he broke in the third game of the third set. But Khachanov dug deep and broke back, forcing a tie-break.
Tsitsipas had two match points at 6-4 but failed to take them thanks to some brilliant hitting from Khachanov. The Russian player levelled the tie-break scoreline and took the set. But Tsitsipas broke at the first time of asking in the fourth set and held on to advance into the final with his fourth match point.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
