Dominant Djokovic reaches his 10th Australian Open final in bid for 10th title

Friday, 27 January 2023 at 12:05

byZachary Wimer

No one was able to stop Novak Djokovic at this year's Australian Open, and Tommy Paul wasn't the one to do it either.

Only Enzo Couacaud and Sebastian Korda won a set against the experienced Serbian and only the former did it at the 2023 Australian Open. The rest of his opponents couldn't find any answers to Djokovic's questions and despite his best efforts, Tommy Paul was just another victim of the 21-time Grand Slam champion.

It was an interesting match for the nine-time Australian Open champion, as his father wasn't present in the Rod Laver Arena, after previous controversy including a Russian flag.

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Everything went well for Djokovic since the match started. He broke his opponent twice in the first set and he was serving for the set in the seventh game. The Serbian had a set point, but he couldn't use it and the score of the game was tied at deuce.

When Djokovic went to grab his towel between the points, he got into a discussion with the umpire, regarding the use of towels and times between points. That seemed to put him off as he went on to lose the following 8 points and Paul eventually tied the score at 5 games each. When Djokovic regained composure once again, he had no more problems, winning the first set 7-5.

From there it was smooth sailing for the 35-year-old. He broke his opponent twice in the second set, while saving three break points, and won it 6-1 in only 37 minutes.

The third set was very similar. World no. 4 started the set with two breaks of Paul's serve, and after denying his opportunity to get one of the breaks back in the fourth game, he led already 4-0.

The American couldn't do anything else to stop his opponent, as Djokovic won the match 7-5, 6-1, 6-2. In the final, Djokovic will play against Stefanos Tsitsipas, who he sensationally came back against from 0-2 down in the 2021 Roland Garros final.

He never lost a final in Melbourne before, as he lifted nine trophies from 2008 until 2021. Previously, he was stopped three times in the quarterfinals, but never in the semis or the final.