The second & last player to punch their ticket ahead of Sunday’s main event & final match of the 2023 Australian Open goes to Novak Djokovic from Serbia, who is now set for his 10th men singles final appearance here, having won all nine of them & no runner-ups yet so far at Rod Laver Arena. He & Tommy had a couple of duels earlier on, but Novak too was just too good going forward against Tommy Paul (USA) in straight sets – 7-5, 6-1, 6-2.
Well played from Tommy Paul on his first grand slam singles semi final where he fired off really well that went nearly all the way throughout this opening set. But then he couldn’t stay on top of Novak as this match-up goes on when it comes to the momentum before he was easily dismantled in the end. We would’ve loved to see him go one better at Melbourne Park & test himself v Stefanos Tsitsipas this Sunday, but sure he will look back from his 2023 Aus Open campaign with such incredible moments right from the 1st RD.
And well done to Novak with another brilliant display that got him one step closer towards collecting grand slam title No.22 if he can defeat Stefanos Tsitsipas on Sunday night, which could see him tie that record with Spaniard Rafa Nadal. He overcame a series of close battles against Tommy Paul for the first set lead, and that early advantage helped him respond to not only one but two quick set finishes where Novak ticked off all of these boxes comfortably with the win. Now if he also takes home the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup after this weekend, then he will be back on top of the ATP rankings once again since June 12th last year.
