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Let those who dare come: Novak Djoković has not given anyone a chance at the Australian Open
Photo: WILLIAM WEST / AFP
Top favorite Novak Djokovic completes the final of the Australian Open.
The Serb won 7: 5, 6: 1, 6: 2 against the American Tommy Paul, after only 2:20 hours the semi-finals in the Rod Laver Arena were over again.
In the final Djoković now meets Stefanos Tsitsipas from Greece, who had previously prevailed against the Russian Karen Chatschanov.
Djoković already dictated the pace in the first set and was able to allow himself a surprisingly high number of unforced errors.
With the score at 5:1, it looked as if the game was going to be a show of power for the 35-year-old.
Then Paul fought his way back and used Djoković's negligence to make it 5: 5 before he turned it up again at the end of the sentence.
Paul's resistance was then broken, in the second and third sets the American, for whom it was the first career duel with Djoković, never became dangerous.
At the same time, Djoković corrected his mistakes and made the match a clear affair.
In the footsteps of Nadal
This gives Djoković the chance on Sunday (9.30 a.m., TV: Eurosport) to win his 22nd Grand Slam title and catch up with record holder Rafael Nadal.
For Tsitsipas, a win would be the first major success, the 24-year-old lost his only final in a Grand Slam in 2021 at the French Open against Djokovic in five sets.
Srdjan Djoković only watched his son's finals on TV: The father of "Djoker" was criticized after his quarter-final game because he could be seen on a video with Russian fans displaying the symbols in support of Vladimir Putin and the invasion of Ukraine carried themselves.
“I'm here to support my son.
I had no intention of causing such headlines or disruption," Djokovic Sr. told Australian media afterwards.
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