Stefanos Tsitsipas has managed to break down the barrier with which he had always crashed in the past. In his fourth semifinals of the Australian Open, the Greek has claimed his first qualification to the final of the tournament thanks to the resounding victory this Friday against Karen Khachanov with partials of 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-7 (6 ), 6-3.
This result means current No. 4 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings will battle for world No. 1 on Sunday. If he wins the title, he will debut at the top of the ranking, displacing Spanish Carlos Alcaraz, who has commanded the ranking since he won the US Open last September.
Just five months ago at Flushing Meadows, Tsitsipas had a chance to move up to No. 1, but fell in the first round (l. to Galán). And at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, he needed to win the tournament unbeaten to ascend to the throne.
However, by losing his opening group match (l. to Djokovic), he was left without a chance. Tsitsipas has never been closer to No. 1 than now. And he earned that right thanks to winning his first semifinal in Melbourne with a very high level.
This Friday was the first time he had outranked his semifinal rival in Australia. And the third seed knew how to be favorite and seized the opportunity to improve his ATP HeadToHead record with Khachanov to 6-0. The triumph also ensures his return to No.
3 in the rankings, his best position so far and the one where he debuted in 2021. “I’ve been working hard to be able to play finals like this, finals that have a bigger meaning than just one final.” he said after victory No.21 of his career in Australia.
Tsitsipas will face Nole Djokovic
Stefanos Tsitsipas stated that he wants to become the World No. 1 on the ATP tour. “I remember watching it on TV and saying to myself, I want to be there one day myself. I want to recreate that feeling for myself.
I knew that’s a very long journey to get there. There are certain steps you have to take to give yourself the chance to be competing for something like this. But I very much believed it,” he said. “This is something that has been sort of lacking in my game.
I genuinely believe in what I’m able to produce. That is more than enough. I go about this way. I do this with a lot of — I strive for it every single day. It might not go the way I want it to, but I put 110% out there,” he added.
