Stefanos Tsitsipas will be playing in a Grand Slam final for the second time in his career on Sunday night at the Australian Open, and once again it is Novak Djokovic who stands in Tsitsipas’ way of a first slam title.
The Greek could hardly have come any closer when they squared off in the 2021 French Open championship match. He led two sets to love only to see Djokovic storm back for a 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 victory to steal La Coupe des Mousquetaires.
Djokovic has won all four of their meetings since that Roland Garros final and he is on a nine-match winning streak overall against Tsitsipas that has him leading the head-to-head series 10-2. Tsitsipas’ wins came in 2018 (Toronto) and 2019 (Shanghai). Although it has been nothing but the short end for him ever since, that’s not to say the 24-year-old hasn’t been competitive. He fell to Djokovic in another five-setter in the 2020 French Open semis, three of their last four best-of-three matches have featured at least one tiebreaker (including a final-set ‘breaker last fall in Paris), and a 2021 Rome quarterfinal clash resulted in a 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 scoreline.
Being competitive with Djokovic is not something anyone has been able to do this fortnight. Enzo Couacaud managed to take a set in the second round, but the 35-year-old otherwise trounced Roberto Carballes Baena, Grigor Dimitrov, Alex de Minaur, Andrey Rublev, and Tommy Paul. The last three performances against De Minaur (6-2, 6-1, 6-2), Rublev (6-1, 6-2, 6-4), and Paul (7-5, 6-1, 6-2) were especially impressive.
Still, those results are not enough to write Tsitsipas off. Five of those six opponents are relatively defensive players who counter-punch–never a recipe for success against Djokovic. Rublev is the only one with significant firepower, but while the Russian’s forehand is huge he doesn’t serve big and doesn’t go to the net. With the way Djokovic is playing right now, nobody is going to beat him without winning free points on serve and keeping points short by finishing them at the net.
Unlike the Serb’s first six foes, Tsitsipas can do all of those things. The world No. 4’s all-court game has been on display throughout this fortnight, during which he has ousted Quentin Halys, Rinky Hijikata, Tallon Griekspoor, Jannik Sinner, Jiri Lehecka, and Karen Khachanov. Sinner snagged two sets and Khachanov took one, but Tsitsipas won the first two sets in both of those matches before taking his foot off the gas pedal. If the third seed can get off to another fast start on Sunday night, he could make things interesting.
“These are the moments I’ve been working hard for,” said Tsitsipas, who will also become No. 1 in the world for the first time if he takes the title. “To be able to play finals like this, but finals that have bigger meaning than just a final. It’s a Grand Slam final; I’m fighting for the No. 1 spot. It’s a childhood dream to be capturing the No. 1 spot one day. I’m close. I’m happy that this opportunity comes here in Australia and not somewhere else, because this is a place of significance.”
For no man has Australia been more significant than Djokovic, who is already the record holder with nine titles. Currently fifth in the rankings, Djokovic will also get back to the top spot with a win on Sunday.
“Winning Grand Slams and being the No. 1 in the world is probably the two biggest peaks that you can climb as a professional tennis player,” he commented. “So let’s see what happens.”
This will almost certainly be Djokovic’s toughest test of the tournament, but based on both his current form and his illustrious history Down Under you can’t bet against him.
Pick: Djokovic in 4
Guest what are you talking about
Hi Alison!!😀😀
Guest is anonymous who posts under multiple aliases and also posts under our names!! If you see a post from ‘amy’ or ‘sanju’ which sounds odd it’s because it’s not us it’s him!!
He is completely unbalanced…
Maybe if you applied yourself where it really matters, you might have something to show for your apparent intellect away from an almost non-existent tennis forum.
As things stand now, Djokovic is the GOAT of tennis and this does not even need to be debated datawise . He lacked only the slam record which too he has tied now .
Accepting it humbly as a Rafa fan.
Congrats to Djokovic and his fans.
It’s a closure for me personally. Always feared Novak crossing rafa slam total and number of titles, he did both. So nothing more to lose both for Rafa and his fans I think. If Rafa does bounce back good for him and us.
I am ok about Novak being declared the goat but that is partly because I don’t believe in the concept or the rhetoric around it anyway.
All I hope for is that Rafa recovers physically and mentally and gets back on track for RG.
Afterall if Rafa wins at RG and has #23 and #15 RG titles then everyone will start yelling that he is the goat won’t they?!
A big If Amy…let’s see how be comes back
Why do you bow to Novak, Sanju? Rafa is every bit the GOAT as well, and the Federer fans can make a case as well. There is such a difference in how venues are played over time that eras are not the same across time. That is how I see it.
I agree about this whole GOAT business. It really is a disservice to the greats from past eras. They all made significant contributions to the sport. Novak and Rafa are tied for total slams. Rafa has 14 RG titles. Novak has 10 at the AO. Fed has 8 at Wimbledon.
They each have a long list of records. Let’s bow down to all three!
Anyway, as I said above congrats to Novak fans. He is playing amazing tennis and really honestly no one can begrudge him his success.
Everyone now expecting Novak to go on a tear in 23 just like 21…hmm..let’s see
No, I’d be surprised if he went on a tear as if he is 25 again! It’s risky. He might want to save his legs for skiing, hiking, and having fun as a dad and grandad someday!
I was watching the replay until the second set tb. Novak was up 4-1 after Tsitsipas had a set point. At that point I happened to see the result online. Then I stopped watching. I thought Tsitsipas would get at least a set. Very disappointing from him. He may be one of those who can play well but never win a slam.
Now it’s all about the stupid GOAT nonsense again. I could care less because I don’t believe in it.
I am not feeling charitable towards the Molefarm trolls. They will get nothing from me. But I will give congratulations to the good Novak fans.
I don’t know what to expect with Rafa. He can’t seem to stay healthy for too long these days. It’s just wait and see.
This time last year (A02022) there were big celebrations about Rafa the GOAT .Can someone with time on their hands please check back to see who was happy but didnt believe in it.
Well done to Djokovic and happy for his fans. The one area he has clearly gotten better over the last five years is on his serve. The accuracy, and the ease with which he hits 200 kph serves, is astounding. Of course, he still has the amazing return as well.
Sorry for Tsitsipas, but he just didn’t play with enough aggression to win this match. He played especially poorly in the TBs (the second set was shockingly bad from both players), and although he added variety with slice, etc., it just wasn’t enough. Novak was just too good for him.
How to waste your life in a forum talking about nothing, that in the end means nothing.
The sport is overrated and the performances are overrated but keep talking it up and wasting your life.
Small things amuse small minds
Then why are you here
Elizabeth you are such a classy lady🌹
Rafa is yet to congratulate Nole, everyone else did it, even Federer….
I love the new narrative (even so-called Nole fans are running it), while Nole was legging behind the other two the GOAT existed (it was either of other two) as Nole was catching up with other two, taking almost all relevant tennis records (stand alone) the narrative changed, no more GOAT, “they are all greats so let’s us enjoy their greatness”
Sorry to break it to you, it’s correct, they are all greats, but there is only one greatest of all time and his name is NOVAK DJOKOVIC, the sooner you accept ii the easier will be for, stop tormenting yourself, accept the facts.