Australian Open 2023 Final Start Time, Novak Djokovic vs Stefanos Tsitsipas Live Result, Tickets

Of all the weapons and tricks Djokovic has in his arsenal, his most valuable is the way he disguises his fears.

Because his life seems like an endless soap opera drama, the Serb makes tennis look easy and seems almost oblivious to the pressure and self-doubt of other players.

But it’s a joke because he has the same fears as everyone else and this year is no different, although he plays it cool and demolishes his opponents.

“Of course I can feel it,” he said. “I feel pressure. I feel stressed like any other player.

“I feel nervous. I can feel excitement. There are many different emotions that run through.”

Djokovic is rarely praised for blocking out all the white noise around him and doing his best on the pitch.

It’s not always pretty, but it’s one of the reasons he’s won so many Grand Slams and is likely to win many more.

It will be a huge shock if he doesn’t claim his 10th Australian Open title and regain world No. 1 on Sunday.

His opponent Stefanos Tsitsipas is in the best of his career and is desperate to win his first Grand Slam title but Djokovic has all the aces and if he does his best he should win again.

“I think the experience of having been in this particular situation and circumstances before helps,” Djokovic said.

“I also think the fact that I never lost the Australian Open final is definitely a big confidence boost.

“Of course, the work on the pitch still needs to be done. I’m going to play Tsitsipas who is in great shape, great shape and has played some of his best tennis. I’m sure he will be very motivated to win his first Grand Slam title.

“I know his game pretty well. He knows my game well. We played several times on different surfaces. We played in a Grand Slam final at Roland Garros a few years ago, but on clay.”

That was in the 2021 French Open final, when Djokovic came from two sets down to beat his Greek rival in a five-set thriller.

Although Tsitsipas has beaten Djokovic twice before, in 2018 and 2019, the Serb has defeated him on 10 other occasions and the prospect of equaling Rafael Nadal’s record 22 Grand Slams titles is the added incentive that will keep anyone from complacency a.

“I know what’s ahead and I’m excited,” Djokovic said.

“Luckily at this stage of my career because of all the achievements there is always something at stake basically every game or tournament, especially when the Grand Slams are played.

“I feel privileged to be in this position and I hope for the best.”

It would be fitting if Djokovic equaled the Grand Slam record in Melbourne as the Australian Open has always been his best tournament.

He won his first Grand Slam in Australia in 2008 before his 21st birthday, becoming one of the youngest ever winners. Now, as a father in his mid-30s, he is on his way to becoming one of the oldest champions.

Australian tennis fans should enjoy the moment and every performance he makes at Rod Laver Arena from now on. While he has no intention of retiring any time soon, even Djokovic knows it won’t last forever.

“I played professional tennis for a variety of reasons. A personal reason is that I feel like there’s always an opportunity on the tennis court to learn something new about myself, I guess I’m battling my own demons that we all have. When we’re in the middle of a fight on the tennis court, some things come to the surface and I have to deal with them. So it’s a great school of life for me,” he said.

“Of course I also have professional goals and ambitions. These are Grand Slams and world No. 1. These two probably high points of the professional tennis world have always been my goals. So no doubt I want to write more history from this sport.

“I feel playfully physically that I can still hold and hold the top level. So why not continue while that is the case?”

DOES TSITSIPAS REALLY NOT REMEMBER EPIC SLAM FINAL?

Scott Gulan

Stefanos Tsitsipas’ first memory of the Australian Open was watching Roger Federer defeat Fernando Gonzalez in the 2007 final as an eight-year-old.

Gonzalez, a hard-hitting Chilean clay-court player, was his favorite player and he recalls gathering early in the morning with friends in front of the television to watch him play his only Grand Slam final.

“I just liked his explosiveness, how he could hit the ball,” explains Tsitsipas.

Tsitsipas had tennis in his blood. His mother, Julia, was a former world No. 1 junior who had a career-high WTA Top 200 ranking, while his father, Apostolos, was a tennis coach in Athens.

Eight years after his first visit to the Australian Open, Tsitsipas traveled to Melbourne Park to play at the juniors where he reached the quarterfinals. He would finish the 2015 season at No. 14 in the world, improving that to No. 1 the following year.

The seed was well sown, the young Greek wanted to be at the Rod Laver Arena last Sunday.

“I remember seeing it on TV and telling myself I want to be there myself one day. I want to recreate that feeling for myself,” he said.

“I knew it was a very long road to get there. There are certain steps you need to take in order to give yourself a chance to compete for something like this.

“But I really believed it. I believed it very much. First of all, it is your ego that is speaking. You either have it or you don’t, you know? As a child I was very self-confident. Thank God I was good in my country.

“From then on I knew if I could leave my country and compete in other countries, European leagues, European tours, I kept proving myself that I was really good. I’m junior no. turned 1 Now I want to do it with the men, in men’s professional tennis.

“So to be here in the final means a lot. To have started here as one of my first junior grand slams and now to be in the men’s final is just as important as my very first steps on the tennis court.

“I will seize this opportunity and prepare for this big day.”

Funnily enough, Tsitsipas remembers his early days in Australia very well, but apparently he can’t remember his only other Grand Slam final appearance at the 2021 French Open, where he led two love sets to Novak Djokovic just to win the match lose five 6-7 2-6 6-3 6-2 6-4.

These are more mind games as Djokovic seems to have forgotten this week when referring to Tsitsipas not having reached the last two at a Grand Slam previously.

After his semi-final win over Karen Khachanov, Tsitsipas intervened in the excuse: “I don’t remember either (the 2021 final).”

Hmmm. OK, although we all find it hard to believe, we know that the Greek No. 3 is a completely different player from the one who previously failed to make it through the semi-finals three times at Melbourne Park.

The 24-year-old has also brought an Aussie touch to his team with Mark Philippoussis coming on board for the Australian Open.

“I play great tennis. I’m amused. I just don’t see any downside or negativity in what I’m trying to do out there,” he said. “Even if it doesn’t work out, I’m very optimistic and look forward to every result, every opponent I have to face.

“It’s something that was kind of missing in my game. I really believe in what I can produce. That’s more than enough. I walk this path, I strive for it every day. It may not go the way I want it to, but I’m giving 110%.

“I have a good relationship with myself on the pitch right now.”

Former world No. 4 Tim Henman, six-time Grand Slam semi-finalist, believes the 2023 version of Tsitsipas is ready to make progress and claim the world No. 1 ranking by beating Djokovic.

“I was a bit frustrated last year because Stefanos won so many games because he was so consistent, but we felt that in Grand Slams, except for the Australian Open, it was a bit more difficult,” Henman told Eurosport .

“I have said that maybe he has played too much season after season and that he also had to plan his goals.

“I think he’s learned a lot from the last year, I feel like he wants to capitalize on his experience and the lessons that are being learned from it.

“We can feel that Stefanos has something different in this tournament. We have the feeling that he really wants to go to the final of a Grand Slam. He wants to win, we can feel that and he shows it.”

Originally published as Australian Open 2023: Novak Djokovic takes on Stefanos Tsitsipas in the men’s final