To a sea of Greek flags and their holders chanting his name, next gen’s nearly man finally got over the line in an Australian Open semi-final. Since 2019 when, right here at Melbourne Park, Stefanos Tsitsipas upset Roger Federer en route to his first slam semi, he has made that tricky round four times. Three of those came at the Australian Open, his self-described home slam, but it was only the 2021 French Open at which he took the next step, before losing the final to Novak Djokovic after giving up a two-set lead.
As of Friday the 24-year-old can lay claim to a second final appearance, after arm-wrestling Karen Khachanov into submission for a 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3, a victory he has dreamed of since watching Marcos Baghdatis in his 2006 Australian Open final loss to Federer on TV as a child.
