Posted in: Last updated:
Melbourne (AFP) – The Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, ranked fourth in the world, qualified for the final of the Australian Open tennis tournament on Friday in his fourth attempt, by defeating the twenty-something Russian Karen Khachanov 7-6 (2/7), 6-4, 6-7 (8/6), 6-3 .
Tsitsipas will face in the final the winner between the Serbian Novak Djokovic, the nine-time champion, and the American Tommy Paul.
At the age of 24, the Greek became the youngest player to reach the final since 23-year-old Djokovic in 2011.
And if Tsitsipas or Djokovic wins the title, one of them will automatically become the world number one.
“I dreamed as a child that one day I would play in this stadium once morest the best players in the world,” said Tsitsipas, who won his tenth win without losing any this season.
“So I’m happy with the fight I had there today. I feel lucky and blessed to be able to play tennis at this level. I’ve been wanting for many years now to put Greek tennis on the map.”
“I am very happy because I am in the final now and let’s see what happens,” he added.
Tsitsipas shone in Melbourne during the past seasons following entering the competition arenas in 2019, and at the age of twenty he was able to topple Swiss Roger Federer in the sixteenth round.
He managed to reach the semi-finals that year and then in 2021 and 2022, but he did not succeed in his three attempts to reach the final, but that enabled him to occupy one of the top ten positions in the world rankings during the past four years.
© 2023 AFP
