Tsitsipas Beats Khachanov to Reach 1st Australian Open Final

Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece reacts after defeating Karen Khachanov of Russia in their semifinal at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 27, 2023. (AP)
Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece reacts after defeating Karen Khachanov of Russia in their semifinal at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 27, 2023. (AP)
TT
20

Tsitsipas Beats Khachanov to Reach 1st Australian Open Final

Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece reacts after defeating Karen Khachanov of Russia in their semifinal at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 27, 2023. (AP)
Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece reacts after defeating Karen Khachanov of Russia in their semifinal at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 27, 2023. (AP)

Stefanos Tsitsipas had a harder time strictly following all of the rules than he did outplaying his opponent in the early going, then recovered after blowing two match points late in the third set, and eventually reached the final at the Australian Open for the first time by beating Karen Khachanov 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3 on Friday.

The No. 3-seeded Tsitsipas had been 0-3 in semifinals at Melbourne Park, but he finally went a step further to get to the second Grand Slam championship match of his career.

It looked easy for the better part of three sets against Khachanov, but Tsitsipas got broken when serving for the match at 5-4 in the third, then failed to convert either chance to end it when he went up 6-4 in the ensuing tiebreaker. Khachanov collected four consecutive points there, erasing the match points with a pair of booming forehands. Tsitsipas, though, regained his footing quickly, grabbing a 3-0 lead in the fourth.

Now Tsitsipas will face Novak Djokovic or unseeded American Tommy Paul in the men's singles final on Sunday.

Djokovic has won the Australian Open nine times and owns 21 Grand Slam titles in all — only Rafael Nadal, with 22, has more among men — and carried a 26-match winning streak at Melbourne Park into Friday's second semifinal. Until this week, Paul never had been past the fourth round in 13 previous appearances at major tournaments.

Tsitsipas’ other run to a major final came at the 2021 French Open, when he grabbed the first two sets before blowing that big lead and losing to Djokovic in five.

Earlier this week, Djokovic said about Tsitsipas: “He has never played a final, am I wrong?” Reminded by reporters about Roland Garros, Djokovic replied: “That’s right. Sorry, my bad.”

For about 2 1/2 hours at Rod Laver Arena on Friday, which began with nary a cloud and a temperature topping 80 degrees Fahrenheit (25 Celsius), the 24-year-old from Greece showed a game that was too versatile, and strokes that were too consistent from all over the court, for the 18th-seeded Khachanov, a Russian who is now 0-2 in Slam semifinals.

The biggest issue for Tsitsipas in that span, truthfully, appeared to be trying to deal with the watchful eyes of the match officials monitoring the 25-second clock and the position of his feet.

Chair umpire Nico Helwerth’s first warning for a time violation came while Tsitsipas served for the first set at 5-3, love-15. Perhaps distracted, he double-faulted to trail love-30 and eventually got broken there.

The serve clock elapsed again at 5-all, love-15, and the second infraction resulted in an automatic fault, prompting Tsitsipas’ father — who coaches him, along with former player Mark Philippoussis — to stand up from his courtside seat. Again, Tsitsipas then double-faulted, again to fall behind love-30, but this time he managed to hold serve, and he was by far superior in the ensuing tiebreaker, able to ignore a foot-fault call that came at 3-1.

There were more foot-faults in the second set, and after one, Helwerth explained the problem: Tsitsipas’ back foot was extended too far behind him while serving from the Deuce side, putting his shoe beyond the middle line.

Tsitsipas would go on to break to 5-4, helped by a wild point in which he got back three overheads by Khachanov, eliciting roars from the many spectators waving blue-and-white Greek flags. Soon, he grabbed that set. He broke again to lead 2-1 in the third but failed to slam the door shut.

Instead, Tsitsipas — who lost in the Melbourne semifinals to Rafael Nadal in 2019, and to Daniil Medvedev in 2021 and 2022 — needed to wait 40 minutes from his initial match point to his last.

Serving in the fourth set at 5-3, 40-love, his missed a forehand volley on No. 3. “Uh, oh,” he might have been forgiven for thinking. But on the next point, chance No. 4, he hit a serve that drew a long return and was able to exhale.



PSG Crush Real Madrid 4-0 to Reach Club World Cup Final

Soccer Football - FIFA Club World Cup - Semi Final - Paris St Germain v Real Madrid - MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S. - July 9, 2025 Paris St Germain's Fabian Ruiz celebrates scoring their first goal with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli
Soccer Football - FIFA Club World Cup - Semi Final - Paris St Germain v Real Madrid - MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S. - July 9, 2025 Paris St Germain's Fabian Ruiz celebrates scoring their first goal with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli
TT
20

PSG Crush Real Madrid 4-0 to Reach Club World Cup Final

Soccer Football - FIFA Club World Cup - Semi Final - Paris St Germain v Real Madrid - MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S. - July 9, 2025 Paris St Germain's Fabian Ruiz celebrates scoring their first goal with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli
Soccer Football - FIFA Club World Cup - Semi Final - Paris St Germain v Real Madrid - MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S. - July 9, 2025 Paris St Germain's Fabian Ruiz celebrates scoring their first goal with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli

Paris St Germain's Spanish midfielder Fabian Ruiz scored twice in a devastating first-half display as the French champions demolished Real Madrid 4-0 on Wednesday to book their place in the Club World Cup final against Chelsea.

Two defensive errors handed PSG their opening goals within nine minutes at MetLife Stadium.

Raul Asencio's poor control in the sixth minute gifted Ousmane Dembele possession and his first effort was saved by Thibaut Courtois before the rebound was picked up by Ruiz who scored into an empty net.

Antonio Ruediger's miskick as he attempted to pass three minutes later allowed Dembele to burst unmarked into the box before firing a tidy finish past Courtois, according to Reuters.

Ruiz struck again in the 24th minute after Achraf Hakimi made a great run down the right and the Spaniard held off defender Raul Asencio with a feint before finishing perfectly from close range.

Substitute Goncalo Ramos completed the rout for European champions PSG three minutes from time, punishing a feeble Real Madrid side who failed to pose any attacking threat.

"It was an incredible match, brilliant win," player of the match Ruiz told DAZN.

"Even under scorching heat, such difficult conditions to play in midday, the team responded really well and it's an achievement to be proud of.

"We made a perfect game and beat a top-level rival like Real Madrid in a great way. It's job well done."

Real Madrid manager Xabi Alonso's tactical gamble backfired spectacularly.

that had served them well in previous rounds, reverting to a four-man backline that proved woefully inadequate against PSG's attacking prowess.

PSG, who thrashed Inter Milan 5-0 in the Champions League final last month, smelled blood from the opening whistle and never relented against opponents who looked clueless on how to approach Gianluigi Donnarumma's goal even with French forward Kylian Mbappe back in the starting side after illness.

Dembele almost scored in the fourth minute with a curling strike from inside the box that Courtois stopped with a brilliant one-handed save before the keeper produced another stunning reflex block from a close-range strike by Ruiz.

But there was nothing he could do to deny PSG from opening a three-goal lead and the French team had more chances to extend their advantage further before the break.

Real made no changes at halftime and PSG stayed in control, with Desire Doue having a goal ruled out for an offside.

The Spanish side never came close to causing Donnarumma a serious problem and Ramos added a fourth goal for PSG.

"At the beginning, the setback was strong enough with a 2-0 down. We knew that the task was really tough," Real coach Alonso told DAZN.

"At the moment, the feeling is not the best, but we'll have to try to learn from today. They are a team that has been built in two years and we are just starting here, so it will take time.

"Right now what we need is a proper break. This is not the beginning of next year, this is just the end of this season. After just three weeks here, I think that we can take positives from this period, not from today. We take lessons from today."