Stefanos Tsitsipas beat intrepid Karen Khachanov to reach first Australian Open final | Tennis news

MELBOURNE: Stefanos Tsitsipas flaming his way into a first Australian Open final with a 7-6(2) 6-4 6-7(6) 6-3 win over the 18th seed Russia Karen Khachanov on Friday.
Greek third seed Tsitsipas, who collided three times in the semi-finals at Melbourne Park, will face favorite Novak Djokovic or Tommy Paul for the title.
The French Open 2021 runner-up forced Khachanov to commit a forehand foul to win an early break just to serve immediately.
The pair changed the break again in the tumultuous opening set but Tsitsipas survived the tiebreak and took the lead in the match before falling behind in the next set as Khachanov’s level dropped.
Despite being confused by the three-legged error and two serve violations, Tsitsipas looked more relaxed after winning the second set.
The 24-year-old broke Khachanov to lead 2-1 in the third round but the Russian bravely equalized 5-5 before entering the tiebreak.
Tsitsipas hit a great inside-out forehand to get the crowd cheering but squandered two match points and let Khachanov take the lead.
The Greek rallied in the fourth set to take a 3-0 lead and finish the match in style to secure a spot in a second Grand Slam final.