“It’s important to me,” said Paul, the first American man since Andy Roddick in 2009 to reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open. “We all want it bad enough for ourselves, but we also want it for US tennis.”
crowd favorite
Stefanos Tsitsipas will make his fourth appearance in the semi-finals of the Australian Open when he takes on a revived Russian Karen Khachanov.
The third-seeded Greek is a crowd favorite at Melbourne Park and has been ruthlessly efficient so far, winning four of his five matches in straight sets – including a comfortable win over unseeded Czech Jiri Lehka in the quarters.
Tsitsipas said, ‘It is great to be back in the semi-finals.
“Definitely, I’m definitely happy with the way I’m playing. I’m looking forward to more, better. I want to create some magical experiences here in Australia.”
Khachanov will be the fresher of the two after reaching the semi-finals after his American rival Sebastian Korda pulled out of the quarter-finals with a wrist injury.
“This time it’s different because I feel really good physically as well after the pre-season so far,” said Khachanov, a semi-finalist at the US Open.
“I haven’t had long matches, so it’s different, it could even be three in the semi-finals. But coming into it, I’ll be in better shape physically.”