No. 3 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece will take on 18th seed Karen Khachanov of Russia for a place in the Australian Open final on Friday.
Stefanos Tsitsipas will be keen to extend his unbeaten run against Karen Khachanov, with the Russian's only win coming in an exhibition match on grass in 2019.
The Greek claimed a 4-6, 6-0, 6-3 comeback win over Khachanov at last year's Rome Masters and boasts a 5-0 record over his opponent. However, this will be their most challenging clash so far and Khachanov should fancy his chance of winning his first competitive match against Tsitsipas.
The winner of this Australian Open semi-final will advance to face either Tommy Paul of the United States or nine-time champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia in Sunday's showdown.
No. 3 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas is just one step away from his first Australian Open final after three unsuccessful attempts over the past couple of years.
The 24-years-old Greek already reached the French Open final two years ago when he suffered a heartbreaking comeback defeat to Novak Djokovic.
Stefanos Tsitsipas started his Australian Open campaign in style with three consecutive straight-sets wins over French qualifier Quentin Halys, Australian wildcard Rinky Hijikata and Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands.
All in all, Tsitsipas enjoyed a comfortable route to the last-16, where he dropped his two-sets-to-love lead but eventually wrapped up a 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3 victory over 15th seed Jannik Sinner of Italy. He continued with a solid performance to outclass Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic (6-3, 7-6, 6-4) in the quarter-finals and the Greek will play his fourth Australian Open semi-final in five years.
After four unsuccessful attempts to make it through the third round at Melbourne Park, Khachanov finally passed it and the 26-years-old Russian even reached the Australian Open semi-finals.
Karen Khachanov started his Australian Open journey with a 7-6, 6-2, 6-0 win over Bernabé Zapata Miralles of Spain before he went on to beat Australian wildcard Jason Kubler and No. 16 seed Frances Tiafoe of the United States (both in four sets) in the next two rounds. It seems that he gained momentum and his easiest match came in the last-16, when Khachanov won 12 straight games to earn a 6-0, 6-0 lead over No. 31 seed Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan and he closed the match with a 7-6 win in the third set.
Karen Khachanov claimed a 7-6, 6-3, 3-0 win over No. 29 seed Sebastian Korda in the quarter-finals, though the American was forced to retire during the third set due to a wrist injury.
Thus, the Russian already leveled his best Grand Slam performance as Khachanov reached the US Open semi-finals a couple of months ago, when he lost in four sets to Casper Ruud of Norway. Now, Khachanov is bidding to go one step further and reach his maiden Grand Slam final, though he needs to beat the odds in the semi-finals.
Karen Khachanov still has an opportunity to become the first Russian man to win the Australian Open title since Marat Safin in 2005, with Medvedev losing back-to-back Australian Open finals in 2021 and 2022.
Coached by former Australian player Mark Philippoussis – Tsitsipas was one of our long-shots (to win his own quarter) and the Greek is a recognized favorite to finally reach the Australian Open final after three semi-final defeats over the past few years, including back-to-back defeats to another Russian – Daniil Medvedev.
We expect a tight clash at the Rod Laver Arena and it's not going to be a stroll in the park for either side.
