MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Stefanos Tsitsipas’ strict adherence to all the rules was much more difficult than his early win over opponents, then recovered after dropping two match points late in the third set to reach the final with a 7-7 victory on Friday. – Defeated Karen Khachanov 6(2), 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-3 to make his Australian Open debut.
No. 3 seed Tsitsipas was 0-3 in the semi-finals at Melbourne Park, but he finally went one step further to claim his second career Grand Slam title.
It looked easy for most of the three-set match against Khachanov, but Tsitsipas was broken on serve at 5-4 in the third and then failed to convert as he led 6-4 in the ensuing tiebreaker Chances to end the game. Khachanov collected four runs in a row there, erasing match point with a pair of booming forehands. Tsitsipas quickly found his footing, though, leading 3-0 in the fourth quarter.
Tsitsipas will now face either Novak Djokovic or unseeded American Tommy Paul in Sunday’s men’s singles final.
Djokovic has won the Australian Open nine times, has a total of 21 Grand Slam titles – only Rafael Nadal has 22 – and has a 26-game winning streak at Melbourne Park. Friday’s second semi-final. Until this week, Paul had never advanced beyond the fourth round in his previous 13 major events.
___
AP Tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
