(Football news) Novak Djokovic has advanced to his 10th Australian Open final after an easy victory over the American Tommy Paul in straight sets. After a relatively shaky start, the nine-time Australian Open champion quickly regained his foot hold in the match and cruised to a 7-5, 6-1, 6-2 win over the American who surprised everyone reaching the semifinals. He will now face third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the finals who is aiming for his first Grand Slam. 

Djokovic committed 24 unforced errors in the first set but the Serbian managed to turn the match in his favor. Even though he didn’t play the best tennis in the first set he still secured the first set after winning the tiebreaker with a brilliant break of serve. Djokovic’s father, Srdjan, created some controversy ahead of the semi-final when a video of him sitting with fans who were holding Russian flags, which had been banned at Melbourne Park. This distraction threatened to derail Djokovic’s focus before the match, but he ultimately managed to stay calm and secured an easy victory.

Paul couldn’t recover after the first set as Novak rectified his early errors and began to take control of the match. Despite a valiant effort and winning several rallies, Paul’s impressive energy was not enough to match Djokovic’s momentum and his sheer will to win. Novak Djokovic after this result now has 33 Grand Slam finals as he has an impressive 27 consecutive wins in Melbourne which dates back to 2019 which is subsequently the longest winning streak in the competition’s history. He is set to make his tenth appearance in the Australian Open final in his illustrious career out of which he has lost only one final.

Also read: Stefanos Tsitsipas defeats Karen Khachanov to reach Australian Open final