ATP
Tsitsipas tames Khachanov to earn first AO final
Stefanos Tsitsipas broke through on Friday into his first Australian Open final as the Greek defeated Karen Khachanov 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3 for the sixth time without a loss in their series.
Tsitsipas, seeded third, had stalled in the Melbourne semis on three previous occasions; but he ensured safe passage this time after a battle of nearly three and a half hours.
Tsitsipas will be playing his second career Grand Slam final after losing at Roland Garros two years ago to Novak Djokovic.
He will face off in Sunday’s title match against the winner from the nine-time champion Serb and untried American Tommy Paul.
“”I’m happy with the fight I put up today,” the winner said. “I dreamed as a kid to one day play a final on this court and be able to compete with the best.
“I’m blessed that I can play tennis at this level, especially coming from a small country like Greece.
“Me and Maria (Sakkari) are putting Greek tennis on the map.
“I’m extremely happy to be in the final now – let’s see what happens.”
The feisty Khachanov was beaten for the 14th consecutive time by a Top 5 player as he went down with a fight at Melbourne Park in summer heat.
Tsitsipas won a combative opening set characterised by four breaks of serve; he came good in the tiebreaker, winning six of the last seven points.
His momentum continued with a sweep of the second; but he needed to overcome a late hurdle in the third as Khachanov managed a break of serve with his opponent serving for victory, 5-4.
Tsitsipas mis-judged an overhead to drop serve as Khachanov pulled level at five games apiece.
The inspired underdog followed up with a love game – sealed with his eighth ace – before the set went into a decider, which Khachanov also won to get on the scoreboard after saving a pair of match points in the breaker.
“In the third set I was extremely close to the win,” Tsitsipas said. “But in moments like that (and the fourth set) if you stick around and concentrate, it can pay off quite well.”
Tsitsipas resumed his domination in the fourth, with his 3-0 lead serving as a solid foundation for victory.
His second set of match points came 40 minutes after his first pair in the third set; Tsitsipas finished with 18 aces among 66 winners.
Stefanos Tsitsipas broke through on Friday into his first Australian Open final as the Greek defeated Karen Khachanov 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3 for the sixth time without a loss in their series.
Tsitsipas, seeded third, had stalled in the Melbourne semis on three previous occasions; but he ensured safe passage this time after a battle of nearly three and a half hours.
Tsitsipas will be playing his second career Grand Slam final after losing at Roland Garros two years ago to Novak Djokovic.
He will face off in Sunday’s title match against the winner from the nine-time champion Serb and untried American Tommy Paul.
“”I’m happy with the fight I put up today,” the winner said. “I dreamed as a kid to one day play a final on this court and be able to compete with the best.
“I’m blessed that I can play tennis at this level, especially coming from a small country like Greece.
“Me and Maria (Sakkari) are putting Greek tennis on the map.
“I’m extremely happy to be in the final now – let’s see what happens.”
The feisty Khachanov was beaten for the 14th consecutive time by a Top 5 player as he went down with a fight at Melbourne Park in summer heat.
Tsitsipas won a combative opening set characterised by four breaks of serve; he came good in the tiebreaker, winning six of the last seven points.
His momentum continued with a sweep of the second; but he needed to overcome a late hurdle in the third as Khachanov managed a break of serve with his opponent serving for victory, 5-4.
Tsitsipas mis-judged an overhead to drop serve as Khachanov pulled level at five games apiece.
The inspired underdog followed up with a love game – sealed with his eighth ace – before the set went into a decider, which Khachanov also won to get on the scoreboard after saving a pair of match points in the breaker.
“In the third set I was extremely close to the win,” Tsitsipas said. “But in moments like that (and the fourth set) if you stick around and concentrate, it can pay off quite well.”
Tsitsipas resumed his domination in the fourth, with his 3-0 lead serving as a solid foundation for victory.
His second set of match points came 40 minutes after his first pair in the third set; Tsitsipas finished with 18 aces among 66 winners.
Two-time champion Casper Ruud had to work for more than two and a half hours to overcome Jaime Faria, the Portuguese who put out Stan Wawrinka in the first round at the Gstaad Swiss Open on Thursday.
Faria was riding the momentum from Tuesday’s defeat of three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka, set to retire this season and beaten in an opening match at his home venue.
Faria had his eye on a second upset as he faced Ruud, who lifted the trophy at this elite alpine village in 2021 and 2022.
Ruud ahd to dodge a bullet and mount a comeback to get through the second-round test against the Portuguese.
After dropping the opening set in a tiebreaker, Ruud played patiently as Faria saved five break points in the sixth game of the second set before failing on the sixth.
Ruud then pulled away for a 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-2 victory, his first since Roland Garros.
“Sometimes it is hard to say when you get a good feeling and you start to win some games in a row,” the winner said.
“You try from the first game to the last, but suddenly something clicked in the middle of the second for me, luckily.”
He added: “I had to really fight hard and if I played one bad game in the second and he serves well, it could be over and it would be time to go home. But luckily I can extend the stay.”
The Scandinavian could join Spaniards Sergi Bruguera and Alex Corretja as three-time winners in the Alps, with Ruud now standing 10-1 here over his career.
Stefanost Tsitsipas said he slept soundly prior to finishing off a darkness-interrupted match on Thursday as he eliminated local Jerome Kym at the Gstaad Swiss Open.
The Greek who once cracked third in the world and the 186th-ranked Swiss returned to the clay after darkness on Wednesday night left them hanging at 5-all in the third set.
Tsitsipas revved up his game from the resumption to emerge into the quarter-finals 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5).
The second seed now standing 85th in the world after several poor seasons and a split with his father as his coach, said getting his rest was not a problem after the interruption.
“It was strange going to bed and not being finished. I visualised what I wanted to do, my shot patterns.
“It worked out pretty well.
“I had a good night’s sleep, I was not too stressed and I recovered to get ready for the continuation.”
After saving break points in the first game on Thursday, Tsitsipas triumphed in the final-set tiebreaker
“I’m relieved I was able to save a couple of break points.. I put my game together and made it )victory) happen again.”
The Greek now faces off against Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech for a semi-final spot.
“I’m expecting a lot of big serves, the altitude (1050m) helps. I’ll try to build consistency around my own serve.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas was handed a reprieve due to fading light with his second round match at the Swiss Open Gstaad stopped with the Greek deadlocked with local Jerome Kym 6-4, 6-7 (2), 5-5.
The math had to be halted as night fell and electronic linecalling computers could not read the path of the ball on the clay in contrast to humans who could have carried on for a few additional minutes..
The 27-year-old Tsitsipas was taking the worst of it in the concluding stage after a promising start.against a journeyman opponent ranked 186.
Tsitsipas, his ranking down to 85th after once standing third in the world, lashed out verbally in the last few games, apparently frustrated with his racquet reactions.
The Greek was quick to make his point of an overnight stoppage to the chair umpire while Kym – who reached 5-all with a love service hold – left the court with a defiant fist pump for his public in this alpine resort village.
The cutoff came after just over two hours of play, with the contest to be concluded on Thursday. The winner reaches the Friday quarter-finals.
Tsitsipas produced his last notable result in April with a fourth-round showing at the Madrid Masters,
He is aiming for his second quarter-final of the season after Doha in February and his 2025 Barcelona 15 months ago.
Tsitsipas stands 10-1 vs. players ranked outside the top 100 this season with a sole loss to No. 104 Italian Matteo Arnaldi at the Roland Garros second round.
History repeats for Argentine spoiler in Gstaad
Ruud survives a scare to secure Gstaad quarters
Tsitsipas finishes off Kym after overnight pause
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