2023 Australian Open SF: [4] Novak Djokovic vs Tommy Paul

[Beerus]

Paul wins his 2nd game in this set. Djokovic needs to be careful now.

 

[tennis_pro]

First set to figure him out and 2 easy sets

7-5 6-2 6-2

for Tommy Paul of course

my crystal ball says djokovic wins the final 6-0 6-0 6-1 not a fan of tsitsipas

 

[Kralingen]

Djokovic 3-0 odds were shockingly high. I don’t know what the bookies were thinking. I shouldn’t have been able to place that bet for less than 1.3 or 1.4 odds.

 

[weakera]

Move comment to Former Player

Federer is not a banned word like Voldemort, you're playing the game wrong

 

[weakera]

my crystal ball says djokovic wins the final 6-0 6-0 6-1 not a fan of tsitsipas

He's essentially a young Federer but with a tougher finals opponent and not Philiposis or Hewitt

 

[GoldenMasters]

Paul wins his 2nd game in this set. Djokovic needs to be careful now.

Can he serve it out with that leg?

 

[Red Rick]

Djokovic 3-0 odds were shockingly high. I don’t know what the bookies were thinking. I shouldn’t have been able to place that bet for less than 1.3 or 1.4 odds.

Maybe some square 'murican money flowing in on Paul

 

[NatF]

Paul wins his 2nd game in this set. Djokovic needs to be careful now.

Paul is threatening to take the set here.

 

[tennis_pro]

He's essentially a young Federer but with a tougher finals opponent and not Philiposis or Hewitt

dont foget about kiefer and clement

 

[Hitman]

Djokovic showing what happens when legitimacy returns to HC slams....he has reached the slam final of the last three HC slams he has played.

Legitimacy. Its fantastic.

 

[N01E]

First set to figure him out and 2 easy sets

7-5 6-2 6-2

Must feel really dumb right now

 

[Kralingen]

Maybe some square 'murican money flowing in on Paul

Ha, I just looked it up and a couple of our sportsbooks “boosted” the Paul to win a set odds. yeah you’re spot on, it’s all American money.

That’s extremely predatory and gross tbh, squeezing money out of a bunch of football fans who’ve never seen tennis before.

 

[weakera]

dont foget about kiefer and clement

True

 

[Chanwan]

He's essentially a young Federer but with a tougher finals opponent and not Philiposis or Hewitt

Couldn't agree now, how right you are

 

[-snake-]

...

 

[GoldenMasters]

Incredible victory by the GOAT! It was a tough match and on Sunday it will be very hard and challenging!

 

[tennis_pro]

Must feel really dumb right now

I have no idea what I was thinking, way too generous for the 2nd set

 

[mahatma]

Onto finals. A good tough match in the semis with Novak prevailing after squandering a 2 break lead in set -.

 

[RF-18]

33rd GS final for Djoko.

 

[TripleATeam]

Novak makes the upset! Incredible scenes!

 

[Djokovic_is_the_best#1]

Great tennis in set 2 and 3 by Djokovic! A 10th AO final for the serbinator. Hard luck Tommy but great run he had.

 

[Kralingen]

 

[Beerus]

Okay, Djokovic somehow won in 3. Good luck doing that vs peak Tsitsipas.

 

[Chanwan]

The hammy got better during the match, hope he can recover fully before Sunday. If not, trouble is coming

 

[D_m_a]

Close match for Djokovic, Tsitsipas has to be the favourite.

 

[LETitBE]

i was in suspenders until Djok unwrapped that butter menthol

 

[paolo2143]

To me the final will depend on what Novak turns up.

If Novak plays like he did in 4th round against De Minaur or in Q/F against Rublev, then i think he will win.

If he starts like today then i think Tsitsipas has a great chance as i think he is really focussed and wants this badly.

 

[2five8]

How is anyone calling this a tough match?????? The earlier rounds were better. This was lamer than Novaks leg!

 

[Beerus]

Novak makes the upset! Incredible scenes!

Only the Earth's Mightiest Warrior can do this. Sleep well now.

 

[onyxrose81]

How is anyone calling this a tough match?????? The earlier rounds were better. This was lamer than Novaks leg!

Flies right over your head.

 

[Botschek]

How is anyone calling this a tough match?????? The earlier rounds were better. This was lamer than Novaks leg!

You are so close to get it.

 

[tennis_pro]

Okay, Djokovic somehow won in 3. Good luck doing that vs peak Tsitsipas.

If you look at their h2h you'd think Djokovic was 24 and Tsitsipas 35.

 

[TheAssassin]

There is some nice effortless vibe with Paul, mostly with the movement/court coverage. The gap in overall quality was quite significant and obvious today. For what it's worth I thought he would approach the net more. Then again Novak's returning skills might have made him reluctant which didn't help at all.

Not much to say than hoping Djokovic goes one step further...

 

[junior74]

If you look at their h2h you'd think Djokovic was 24 and Tsitsipas 35.

Stefanos is favourite, no doubt. Novak's movement is very questionable. Clearly hampered, hindered, compromised.

 

[Razer]

If you look at their h2h you'd think Djokovic was 24 and Tsitsipas 35.

All of these except 2 are BO3 and those 2 BO5 were close, we had Stefanos go 2-0 up in one of those, this means BO5 will be a good close match for sure.

 

[mahatma]

All of these except 2 are BO3 and those 2 BO5 were close, we had Stefanos go 2-0 up in one of those, this means BO5 will be a good close match for sure.

Tsitsi Djokovic finals is far from decided. It’s not Ruud vs Rafa at RG’22

 

[Razer]

Tsitsi Djokovic finals is far from decided. It’s not Ruud vs Rafa at RG’22

Yeah, Ruud is a soft target in any GS final. Like a punching bag that won't punch you back.

 

[paolo2143]

I agree i think this will be a very hard match for Novak.

Stefanos leads outdoor h2h 2-1 and in the 2 best of 5 set matches they had they both went to a final set.

I honestly think if Novak is favourite it is not by much.

 

[Picmun]

Tsitsipas has to be liking his chances by the way.

 

[Chanwan]

All of these except 2 are BO3 and those 2 BO5 were close, we had Stefanos go 2-0 up in one of those, this means BO5 will be a good close match for sure.

And surface doesn't matter, right? Those 2 Bo5 were on clay, on Sunday it's Novak's own backyard. Most likely with the roof closed to add insult to injury

 

[Razer]

And surface doesn't matter, right? Those 2 Bo5 were on clay, on Sunday it's Novak's own backyard. Most likely with the roof closed to add insult to injury

Djokovic is older than he was in 2020/2021 and he is injured in his hamstring as well.

So it is kinda nullified.

 

[Chanwan]

I agree i think this will be a very hard match for Novak.

Stefanos leads outdoor h2h 2-1 and in the 2 best of 5 set matches they had they both went to a final set.

I honestly think if Novak is favourite it is not by much.

If you truly believe that, you should bet on Stefanos. Bookies: 1.22 for Djoko, 4.50 return on every dollar for Stefanos.

 

[Chanwan]

Djokovic is older than he was in 2020/2021 and he is injured in his hamstring as well.

So it is kinda nullified.

Kinda nullified?? 9-0 gets nullified due to age (that doesn't show in his game) and an injury (that doesn't show in his game). Well, agree to disagree sir

 

[Razer]

Kinda nullified?? 9-0 gets nullified due to age (that doesn't show in his game) and an injury (that doesn't show in his game). Well, agree to disagree sir

Well at least I am not writing Stefanos off.
9-0 is only as good as our present fitness sir.
Nadal is 14-0 at RG but today if he plays Alcaraz in a RG final then Nadal will have to be at his best, the previous 14-0 won't help him if he is unfit.

 

[Chanwan]

Well at least I am not writing Stefanos off.
9-0 is only as good as our present fitness sir.
Nadal is 14-0 at RG but today if he plays Alcaraz in a RG final then Nadal will have to be at his best, the previous 14-0 won't help him if he is unfit.

9-0 was confusing, sorry. Didn't mean Novak's titles but their last 9 matches. Alcaraz and Rafa split their 2 matches last year. Alcaraz has won a slam final. Alcaraz has a 6-2 finals record, Stef has a 9-15. Incomparable.

And a huge difference from Stef going into the final with a 0-9 history in recent memory. And losing his 2-0 lead vs. Novak as his only slam final memory.
I haven't seen anything in Novak's last 9 sets to indicate fitness should be a huge problem for him (if at all) in the final.

I think he has a better chance than Ruud did vs. Rafa (Stef does have some belief), but it's very much an uphill battle

 

[joshuayuan]

Only the Earth's Mightiest Warrior can do this. Sleep well now.

I slept for 7 hours straight after a jet lag and woke up exactly on time when this match started.

 

[Im(moral) Winner]

You guys are in for a surprise if you think this will be a blowout win for Djokovic...

Paul will make Djokovic work for it, very measured strokes. He also has a big serve. Reminds me a bit of Medvedev

 

[jm1980]

.

It wasn't a blowout though. Very competitive first set, deceptive scoreline in the second. Only the third set felt like a blowout

 

[mental midget]

It wasn't a blowout though. Very competitive first set, deceptive scoreline in the second. Only the third set felt like a blowout

i missed the match but the scoreline was just a little surprising...paul is i think better than he gets credit for and while i didn't think he'd win i was anticipating a somewhat-to-surprisingly competitive match. good to hear it was maybe closer than the score indicated?

 

[bluetrain4]

At least Tommy gave us ONE moment of "maybe this won't be a blowout" when he rallied from 2-5 to 5-5 in the first set. I think at 5-2 we thought absolute beatdown. It basically ended up being that anyway, but at least we had a moment of doubt and genuine intrigue, even if it lasted briefly.