Tommy Paul becomes the first American since 2009 to reach the last four at the Australian Open | Tennis

Tommy Paul (right in the photo) reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open on Wednesday. The number 35 in the world was too strong for Ben Shelton in Melbourne in an American get-together.

After a match of more than three hours, the score was 7-6 (6), 6-3, 5-7 and 6-4 in favor of 25-year-old Paul, who won his second match point in the fourth set. finished.

It is the first time for Paul that he has come this far in a Grand Slam tournament. His best performance to date was reaching the fourth round of Wimbledon. He follows in the footsteps of Andy Roddick, who in 2009 was the last American to reach the last four at the Australian Open.

Twenty-year-old Shelton was only there for the second time at one of the four major tournaments. The global number 89 stranded directly at the US Open last year on his debut.

Paul meets Novak Djokovic in the semi-final. The Serbian, who equals record holder Rafael Nadal with 22 Grand Slam titles when he wins the Australian Open, was a size too big for Andrey Rublev later on Wednesday.

The other semi-final is between Stéfanos Tsitsipás and Karen Khachanov, the numbers three and eighteen on the placement list. Many high-ranking players stranded prematurely in Melbourne.

In doubles, Wesley Koolhof and his British partner Neal Skupski got stuck in the quarterfinals. The Australian duo Jason Kubler and Rinky Hijikata was much too strong: 6-3 and 6-1.

The elimination is surprising, because Koolhof and Skupski were placed first. The 29-year-old Kubler and 21-year-old Hijikata finished it off with an ace after just over an hour. The Australians were allowed in their own country with a wild card.

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