Australian Open: Djokovic Breezes Past Paul To Face Tsitsipas In Melbourne Final

A 10th Australian Open final at Melbourne Park awaits Novak Djokovic after he cruised past American Tammy Paul in straight sets demolition.

The nine-time champion came through 7-5 6-1 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena to overcome American Paul.

There was a wobble from the Serb in the opening set at 5-1 as Paul roared back to break twice and get back on serve but failed to stamp out his own recovery.

Djokovic won seven games on the spin to wrap up the second set and carried his dominance into the third set to decimate Paul's hope of winning a Grand Slam title in Australia.

"I'm really thankful that I still have enough gas in my legs to able to play at this level," said Djokovic, a 35-year-old from Serbia.

"Some long rallies, you could really feel them. We both had heavy legs in the first set. 

"I was really fortunate to kind of hold my nerves toward the end of the first set.

"That was a key. After that, I started swinging through the ball more."

N?O?L?E @DjokerNole is through to his 1️⃣0️⃣th #AusOpen final after cruising past Paul 7-5 6-1 6-2.@AustralianOpen pic.twitter.com/1cYJD3L5MZ

— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 27, 2023

The Australian Open kingpin will play Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas who won 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 against Karen Khachanov to advance into his first Australian Open final on Rod Laver Arena.

Tsitsipas lost to Djokovic in the 2021 French Open final and now has the opportunity to avenge his loss in Sunday's Melbourne showpiece.

"It's a Grand Slam final and I am fighting for that number one spot," said the Greek on reaching the second Grand Slam championship match of his career.

A win for the Greek will land him his first Grand Slam title and make him rise to No. 1 in the ATP rankings for the first time while victory for Djokovic means he will equal Rafael Nadal's 22 Grand Slam titles and once again become the world number one.