Tennis – Australian Open – Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia – January 27, 2023 Novak Djokovic of Serbia celebrates his semi-final victory over Tommy Paul of the US REUTERS/Hannah Mckay
MELBOURNE—-Novak Djokovic ignores controversy over his father reaching a record-extending 10th Australian Open final on Friday and set up a blockbuster decider match against Greek player Stefanos Tsitsipas and the battle for world number one.
Nine-time champion Djokovic maintained his impeccable semi-final record at Melbourne Park with a 7-5 6-1 6-2 win over American Tommy Paul being defeated at Rod Laver Arena, where his father Srdjan was absent. conspicuous face.
Earlier on the center court, Tsitsipas defeated 18th seed Russian Karen Khachanov 7-6(2) 6-4 6-7(6) 6-3 to become the first Greek to reach the title match. in a city with the largest Greek population outside the southern European country.
Srdjan Djokovic created a distraction for his son before the semi-final after a Video appeared showing him to fans holding the Russian flag, which was banned from Melbourne Park at the start of the tournament.
“I am extremely lucky and grateful…”@DjokerNole paid tribute to the team behind his phenomenal success on the eve of another Grand Slam final. #AusOpen • #AO2023 pic.twitter.com/lBy5XZh8pK
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 27, 2023
Between calls from the Ukrainian embassy and media experts said that Djokovic Sr was banned from participating in the tournament, he refused to attend the semi-finals with the reason that he wanted to avoid “trouble” for his son.
Djokovic defended his father, saying he had been “abused” by Russian fans and that the media had misinterpreted the video as supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“As my father stated, we are against war, we will never support any violence or any war. We know how devastating it is for families, for people in any country that is going through a war,” Djokovic, who grew up in Serbia during the wars in the former Yugoslavia, told me. reporters.
Djokovic said he hopes his father can return to the tennis court in Sunday’s final, although Tennis Australia declined to comment when asked if Srdjan would be welcome.
A year on from the day he was expelled from Australia on the eve of the tournament due to not being vaccinated against COVID-19, the drama hit Djokovic again at Melbourne Park.
He was criticized for leaving the field for illegally going to the toilet early in the tournament and later criticized by the media for being skeptical of his hamstring injury.
On Friday, a man on the rooftop raised a Ukrainian flag as Djokovic served in his direction to Paul.
Djokovic was in a bad mood even as he took a 5-1 lead in the first set, repeatedly shouting into his opponents’ boxes in Serbian.
He got into an argument with the presiding umpire about the time to get a towel between points, prompting loud derision from fans.
Tennis – Australian Open – Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia – January 27, 2023 Novak Djokovic of Serbia talks to Tommy Paul of America after winning the semi-final REUTERS/Loren Elliott
Sensing his chance, Paul ramped up the pressure with some brilliant tennis moves, breaking the Serb twice and leveling the match 5-5 after overtaking Djokovic in a series of 30 the hit.
Desperate for a player to give Djokovic a match he deserved, the crowd resolutely sided with Paul’s corner, cheering for the Serb’s errors.
It was fine for Paul, though, as Djokovic took down to win 14 of the last 17 in a stunning counter-attack 15 years after he won his first Australian Open at the age of 20.
Despite winning by margin, Djokovic said the fuss about his father affected him.
“Of course, it’s not easy for me to have to go through all the things that I had to deal with last year and this year in Australia,” he said.
“It’s not something I want or need. I hope that people will ignore it and we can focus on tennis.”
Before that was much less dramatic as Tsitsipas won his first Australian Open semi-final on his fourth attempt.
Tennis – Australian Open – Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia – January 27, 2023 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece celebrates his semi-final victory over Karen Khachanov of Russia REUTERS/Hannah Mckay
Sunday’s decider will be the rematch of the 2021 French Open final, a match Djokovic won by two sets to leave the Greek player heartbroken.
The winner will take the number one spot from Carlos Alcaraz of Spain.
“I want that number,” said Tsitsipas.
“It was a foundational final… I’ve wanted to put Greek tennis on the map for years now, and Maria and I (Sakkari) have done an incredible job.”
Tsitsipas can rely on a large Greek fan base to compete with Djokovic’s army of Serbian fans.
They struck a chord when he swapped the break with Khachanov in the seesaw opening set before taking control in the tiebreak.
Two sets and broken in the third, Khachanov showed great bravery to knock back the score 5-5 and win after Tsitsipas blew two match points.
However, Tsitsipas quickly regrouped and finished the fourth set in outstanding form.
“Serbia is also a very small country, like Greece,” says Tsitsipas.
“I hope we in Greece can achieve the same thing they have done in recent years – win many Grand Slams.”
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