Novak Djokovic beat Tommy Paul in three sets (7-5.6-1.6-2) and is on his way to winning his tenth Australian Open title. However, the last piece, and probably the most difficult, is the other finalist who will challenge the Serbian star on Sunday, January 29 at the Rod Laver Arena, Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The Greek, a few hours earlier, got his ticket to the Happy Slam final for the first time, defeating Russian Karen Kachanov (7-6, 6-4, 6-7.6-3) in four sets. It’s a different story for the Belgrade player, who is in his 10th Australian Slam final and, if successful, could clinch the treble.
But not only that, the challenge between the two will have much more at stake, the first place in the ATP Ranking, which would be the first for the 24-year-old. The same cannot be said of ‘Nole’, who already holds the record for the tennis player with the most weeks at the top of that classification.
He will have to say goodbye to the record, at least temporarily, the current number one, Carlos Alcaraz, who had to give up the first major of the year due to a physical problem. For Djokovic, therefore, another display of great strength against the American, with whom he showed that he had finally overcome the hamstring discomfort that had worried him in the early stages of the tournament.
The final that he reached allowed him to update again the box of records of his stellar career. Sunday’s will be his 33rd Grand Slam final. He is joined in the ranking by one of the recently retired icons of women’s tennis, Serena Williams.
Mouratoglou pays tribute to Serena Williams
Tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou has showered praise on Serena Williams. “I think that without passion, there is no way anyone can do anything great. Passion is obsession,” Mouratoglou said.
“It’s being completely driven by something. The champions are totally filled with their passions. They think of it day and night. They play a lot. They practice a lot. If you look at the greatest we’ve had, I know that Roger, being No.
1 in the world, was even watching challenger tournaments. It’s insane, the passion for the sport that those people have,” he stated. “Of course, Serena, who I know the most, every night after competition, was watching YouTube videos, something that Holger Rune also does. Whenever he leaves a tennis court, the first thing he does is watch tennis videos,” Mouratoglou added.
