(Tennis news) Third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Russian tennis player Karen Khachanov 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 to reach the Australian Open final. The Greek tennis player lost to Novak Djokovic in the 2021 French Open final but could have the opportunity to avenge that defeat if his Serbian opponent defeats Tommy Paul in the other semi-final match. If Tsitsipas wins the title, he will be crowned World Number 1.

“I thought about how hard I’ve worked to get to this position. But if you stick around, dedicate yourself even more, and concentrate even more in the important moments it pays off” said Tsitsipas when asked what he was thinking when the match went into a fourth set. The Greek player has been very dominant in the Australian Open so far, with only Jannik Sinner troubling him in the fourth round. However Khachanov was far from a pushover as the Russian broke Tsitsipas and saved two match points in the third-set tie-break in a match that lasted three hours and 21 minutes.

It will be the first time that Tsitsipas will feature in the Australian Open finals, having reached the last four in three of the last four years. The Greek lost to Rafael Nadal in 2019 and to Daniil Medvedev in 2021 and 2022. If Tsitsipas manages to maintain his form, he can very well cause an upset in the Australian Open final (against Djokovic if he wins his semi-final clash). However, there is definite room for improvement as Tsitsipas committed a lot of unforced errors against Khachanov, ones that he cannot afford to do against 21 time Grand Slam winner Djokovic.

Also read: Stefanos Tsitsipas to face Karen Khachanov in the Australian Open semi-finals