Australian Open: Stefanos Tsitsipas beats Karen Khachanov 3-1 to reach first AO final
After a hard-fought battle, Stefanos Tsitsipas has made it to his second Grand Slam final by defeating Russian Kachanov in the semi-final of Australian Open.
It was a close match that had its own twist and turns. But at the end there was Tsitsipas standing tall after defeating Khachanov 3-1 in the match.
With this victory he continues to be unbeaten against the Russian. He now has a 6-0 record against him.
Luck favoured Tsitsipas in the first set
The first set didn’t favor Khachanov from the very beginning. There were some close calls on the line that went in Tsitsipas’ way which was a sign that things were not going to be easy for the Russian.
Tsitsipas had come into the game as the favourite. And with the luck in his side the Greek was going to be invincible. Yet, the Russian didn’t give up at all. He was very much in the game throughout the set and pushed it towards a tie breaker.
It still ended in the favour of the Greek who won it with a land slide margin of 7-2 to register the first set to his name.
Great show of defensive acumen by Tsitsipas
The second set was rather definitive in the game as the world no. 3 remained on top of his opposite number. Tsitsipas showed some great defensive acumen to register this set to his name and it felt as if the Greek was going to sail to the final.
That is when the Russian decided to step up his game. Trailing from 2-4 in the third set he managed to push the game towards another tie breaker. Khachanov was too physical for his opponent to handle and the breaker ended at 7-5 in his favor.
From serving for the match point to losing the set, everyone thought that Tsitsipas would not able to make a comeback in the game. But he proved everyone wrong in the very next set.
He started in a dominating way by leading the set 3-0. And eventually went on to win it 6-3.
Tsitsipas eyeing first Grand Slam title
The match went on for 3 hours and 21 minutes. It was a power packed performance from both the players. But eventually it was just one player who could make it to the final. And today it was Stefanos Tsitsipas from Greek.
This is the first grand slam final for the Greek after his ousting in the final against Djokovic in 2021 at Wimbledon. And he might be getting a rematch of that in the final as Djokovic plays in the second semi-final later today.
A tournament win this time will make Tsitsipas the number 1 ranked player as well.
