This story is from January 29, 2023
A rampant Novak Djokovic surged into a 10th Australian Open final to close in on a record-equalling 22nd Grand Slam crown, with only Stefanos Tsitsipas now standing in his way.
The Serbian fourth seed overcame an early wobble to romp past unseeded American Tommy Paul 7-5, 6-1, 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena in style.
Another title on Sunday will move him alongside Rafael Nadal with 22 Slam wins and see the 35-year-old return to world number one for the first time since last June.
Greek third seed Tsitsipas, who ground past Russian 18th seed Karen Khachanov 7-6 (7/2), 6-4, 6-7 (6/8), 6-3 in the other semi-final, can also become the top-ranked player should he lift the trophy.
Djokovic played the clash without father Srdjan courtside after he was filmed posing with a man holding a Russian flag featuring Vladimir Putin's face following his son's quarter-final win on Wednesday.
"I'm really thankful that I have enough gas in my legs to be able to play at this level on one of the biggest tennis courts in the world," said Djokovic, who is now 11-0 for the season and into a 33rd Grand Slam final.
The win extended Djokovic's unbeaten streak at the Australian Open to 27 matches to claim sole ownership of the Open-era record at Melbourne Park ahead of Andre Agassi.
Djokovic had never played Paul before and said he was wary of a "very explosive, very dynamic player", with the American initially refusing to go quietly.
The Serb, a hot favourite, attacked his opponent's straight away for an early break, then broke again when the 35th-ranked Paul fired a forehand long to race 5-1 in front.