Original title: Xiaode entered the Australian Open final for the 10th time in 27 consecutive victories (theme)
Will compete with Tsitsipas for the first place in the world (subtitle)
beijing nightLi Yuanfei
Djokovic, who has won all the previous nine Australian Open men’s singles semi-finals, defeated the world’s 35th-ranked American player Tommy Paul 7-5, 6-1, 6-2 last night Beijing time. He won the Australian Open men’s singles winning streak of 27 games, thus surpassing Andre Agassi and becoming the holder of the longest winning streak in the Australian Open men’s singles in the Open era. He will hit his tenth Australian Open men’s singles title tomorrow. This championship has great practical significance for him and his opponent, No. 3 seed Sisipas, and it is a battle for the two “throne”.
In yesterday’s semi-final with Tommy Paul, perhaps due to the first confrontation, Djokovic made many mistakes in the first game of testing: high pressure off the net, a forehand off the net, and a double fault to send a break point. During the first set, Djokovic bent down several times to touch his bandaged left thigh. This is because he strained his hamstring in the Adelaide game before the Australian Open, which has become a lingering fetter for him at this year’s Australian Open. Compared with Djokovic, Paul’s problem most of the time in the whole game is that he lacks the ability to score in the first serve, and he can’t take advantage of the bottom line stalemate and fighting in front of the net. Chance. The 25-year-old American player said following the game: “He really didn’t give me any chance to execute my game plan.” Djokovic said, “In the first set, both of our legs were very heavy. Fortunately, , At the end of the first set, I restrained my nervousness, which was the key to the whole game, following that, I might play routines more calmly.”
After winning, Djokovic will face the No. 3 seed and Greek star Tsitsipas in Sunday’s final. The latter defeated No. 18 seed and Russian player Khachanov 3-1 in another men’s singles semi-final that ended yesterday and reached the final. This is also the second time in his career that he has reached the men’s singles final of a Grand Slam. Sisipas’ opponent in the men’s singles final of the last Grand Slam was also Djokovic. In the 2021 French Open final, Sisipas had a huge advantage of 2-0 in the set, and was reversed and won by Djokovic in 3 consecutive sets.
For Djokovic, if he can win the championship in the final, he will tie the current leader Nadal with 22 Grand Slam singles titles. On top of a single title, add one more. For Sisipas, if he wins the championship, it will be his first Grand Slam singles title. However, this championship has another meaning for both sides. That is to be able to become “No. 1 in the world” when the next world ranking is released.
“I like the number, it’s ‘1’,” said Tsitsipas, whose previous career high was No. 3. As for Djokovic, who has sat on the throne of “World No. 1” for 373 weeks, the last time he was ranked No. 1 in the world was last June. After the hard-hit 2022, this Australian Open men’s singles title is also of great significance to Djokovic’s career. Djokovic said: “Winning a Grand Slam and becoming number one in the world should be two peaks that professional tennis players can climb.”
