Novak Djokovic keeps bid for 10th Australian Open title alive by thrashing Tommy Paul
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The unstoppable Novak Djokovic reaches his TENTH Australian Open final with a straight sets win over Tommy Paul, as he locks ANOTHER row with the referee and his father staying away for his Russia antics to win
Occasionally shaky and rarely in his prime, Novak Djokovic nonetheless reached the Australian Open final to set up a meeting with Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The nine-time champion beat American outsider Tommy Paul 7-5, 6-1, 6-2 in two hours and 21 minutes as offstage events shrugged.
Djokovic’s father had announced late in the afternoon that he would not be attending after controversy over his public association with Russia supporters on Wednesday.
Nonetheless, Novak Djokovic reached the final of the Australian Open on Friday morning.
The fallout from that seemed to have affected his standing in the Rod Laver Arena crowd, which was sympathetic to Paul, despite the fact that he was a relatively unknown player with no obvious following or attractions.
The Serb is in a different class from him and it seemed that way in the first set until Djokovic found himself embroiled in a pointless argument with referee Damien Dumusois over when the shot clock should go off.
A 5-1 lead became 5-5 before Djokovic finished seven games, emphasizing the quality gulf between him and the world number 35.
Tommy Paul had no answers for the Serbian, who prevailed 7-5 6-1 6-2 in just over two hours
The Serb taunted the crowd after he was loudly booed for winning the first set.
The 21-time Grand Slam winner also had an icy exchange with the chair umpire.
When she won the first set, she returned to her chair and cocked her ear, drawing boos from the packed audience.
His superiority silenced the assembly at large, if not the vociferous knots of his unconditional support that flew the flag.
In Tsitsipas he will face by far his toughest opponent, with the added element that the Greek is very popular in Melbourne due to his heritage.
The world number four had previously gone through in four physical sets against the increasingly formidable Russian Karen Khachanov, 7-6 6-4 6-7 6-3, and it will be a different proposition for Paul.