MELBOURNE, Australia — On Friday, Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Karen Khachanov 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3 to advance to the Australian Open final for the first time. Tsitsipas had a more difficult time adhering to the rules than he did outplaying Khachanov in the early stages of the match, but he recovered after wasting two match points late in the third set.
Tsitsipas, the No. 3 seed, had gone 0-3 in Melbourne Park semifinals, but he ultimately advanced to his second career Grand Slam final.
It appeared straightforward for the majority of the first three sets against Khachanov, but Tsitsipas was broken when serving for the match at 5-4 in the third and failed to convert either of his opportunities when he led 6-4 in the tiebreaker. There, Khachanov won four consecutive points, erasing the match point with two powerful forehands. However, Tsitsipas immediately found his footing and took a 3-0 lead in the fourth set.
Tsitsipas will now face either Novak Djokovic or unseeded American Tommy Paul in Sunday’s men’s singles final.
Stefanos Tsitsipas celebrates after defeating Karen Khachanov in straight sets in the Australian Open semifinals.
Djokovic has won the Australian Open nine times and holds a total of 21 Grand Slam titles — only Rafael Nadal has more among men with 22 — and entered Friday’s second semifinal with a 26-match winning streak at Melbourne Park. Prior to this week, Paul had never advanced past the fourth round in 13 previous big tournament attempts.
»Stefanos Tsitsipas reaches his first career Australian Open final«