Djokovic, Tsitsipas start Australian Open men’s final

Seattle Sports

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Novak Djokovic has won the opening set 6-3 against Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Australian Open men’s singles final on Sunday.

Djokovic broke Tsitsipas’ serve in the fourth game of the opening set to take a 3-1 lead and maintained the advantage.

In addition to the championship, the winner will claim the No. 1 spot in the ATP rankings.

For the fourth-seeded Djokovic, it’s also a chance to win his 10th Australian Open title a year after he wasn’t allowed to compete at Melbourne Park because he was not vaccinated for COVID-19. It would also be the 35-year-old Serbian player’s 22nd Grand Slam singles title, tying him with Rafael Nadal for the men’s record.

The third-seeded Tsitsipas is trying to become the first Greek player to win a Grand Slam singles title. In his only other major final, Tsitsipas won the first two sets against Djokovic but lost the match in five.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports