Australian Open 2023: Day 12 Live:
We come to the commercial end of the tournament and all eyes are on the four remaining men in the men’s draw on a day of semi-final action.
On Thursday, Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka booked their place in the women’s singles final with back-to-back wins over Victoria Azarenka and Magda Linette, respectively.
First Friday, Stefanos Tsitsipas will face Karen Khachanov at 2:30 p.m. and the Greek superstar will aim for his first Australian Open final in his fourth semi-final attempt.
Later in the evening, Novak Djokovic will face American Tommy Paul and is heavily favored to advance to another final at Melbourne Park and close in on a record 10th Australian Open title.
Djokovic’s title run has so far been somewhat overshadowed by footage of his father Srdan seen posing with Russian protesters during a demonstration in support of President Vladimir Putin, as well as rumors of his hamstring injury. -legs.
Follow below for live updates (every hour AEDT).
Live updates
Footage has surfaced of Paul appearing to blatantly refuse to shake hands with Djokovic during last year’s Laver Cup.
After Team Europe’s Djokovic won a match against Frances Tiafoe, he went to shake hands with everyone in Team World.
But as he made his way along the Team World bench, Paul turned his back and didn’t seem to want anything to do with the Serb.
Tommy Paul intentionally avoided shaking hands with Novak after the Laver Cup match.
CC :@DjokerNole 😜😜
I hope someone from his team will show him this video right before the SF. pic.twitter.com/821EUKPIn3
– Mahesh S Wali (@MaheshS_Wali) January 25, 2023
Not that Djokovic needs any extra motivation, but Paul could be conflicted tonight if the Djoker saw footage of the handshake.
