Even Tsitsipas can't stop Djokovic who battles through to Paris final

| by Zachary Wimer

The last ATP 1000 event of the season is always special and offers some high-quality tennis and it is not different in 2022 as Novak Djokovic and Stefanos Tsitsipas met in the semifinals.

Both players enjoyed fairly dominant cruises at the 2022 Paris Masters. While the young Greek defeated Dan Evans, Corentin Moutet and Tommy Paul without losing a set, his opponent, defending champion, eliminated Maxime Cressy, Karen Khachanov and Lorenzo Musetti also without losing a set. However, in their semifinal clash, both players lost their first set at the event.

"Auger-Aliassime's physicality maybe step above Djokovic" - says Wilander
"Auger-Aliassime's physicality maybe step above Djokovic" - says Wilander

It all started better for Novak Djokovic. The Serbian lost only one point on his serve in the first set and thanks to using both break point chances that he created, he easily dominated the first set and won it 6-2 in just 32 minutes.

While the 21-time Grand Slam champion wanted to continue his cruise through the tournament without losing a set, Stefanos Tsitsipas had different ideas. The second set was very similar to the first one, but this time, it was the Greek player who used his chances.

Tsitsipas served well throughout the set and didn't allow his opponent any break points. On the other hand, he had two chances, as Djokovic in the first set, and used both to win the set 6-3 and force a decider.

Djokovic had a total of four break points in the third set, but he couldn't use any of those. Eventually, the second quarterfinal match had to be decided in a tie-break after more than two hours of play.

At 3-3 players changed sides with 100% success rate on their serve. However, the first change of sides brought also the first mini-break as Tsitsipas got a small advantage and 4-3 lead.

Yet, despite challenging a beautiful forehand from Djokovic that landed on the line, the Greek was immediately broken back and since his opponent won also the next rally, he was 5-4 up and had two tennis balls in his hand.

Djokovic showed that he almost never makes mistakes in moments like this and won the last two points to win the match 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(4). In the final, he will take on 19-years-old Holger Rune.

"No one is unbeatable" - Djokovic aware his winning streak may end soon
"No one is unbeatable" - Djokovic aware his winning streak may end soon

Read the full article

Just in

Look at more articles