Stefanos Tsitsipas has reached the final at the Australian Open for the first time by beating Karen Khachanov 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3. The No. 3-seeded Tsitsipas had been 0-3 in semifinals at Melbourne Park until Friday. Now the 24-year-old from Greece finally went a step further to get to the second Grand Slam singles championship match of his career. He was the runner-up at the 2021 French Open. Tsitsipas will face Novak Djokovic or unseeded American Tommy Paul in the men’s singles final on Sunday. Djokovic has won the Australian Open nine times and owns 21 Grand Slam titles in all.
Meanwhile, Tennis Australia says Novak Djokovic’s father has decided to stay away from the 21-time Grand Slam champion’s semifinal after getting embroiled in a flap involving spectators who brought banned Russian flags to Melbourne Park. Djokovic was scheduled to face Tommy Paul for a berth in the men’s singles final on Friday night. Tournament organizers said they have spoken with players and their teams about not engaging in any activity that causes distress or disruption. After Djokovic’s quarterfinal victory over Russian player Andrey Rublev on Wednesday, Djokovic's father was filmed standing with a group of people waving Russian flags outside Rod Laver Arena. Four people were kicked out of the tournament because of the flags and for threatening security guards that night.
Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina has reached her second final in the past three Grand Slam tournaments by beating Victoria Azarenka 7-6 (4), 6-3 at the Australian Open. Azarenka was the champion at Melbourne Park in 2012 and 2013. She joins a list of players eliminated by Rybakina over the past two weeks that includes No. 1 Iga Swiatek, No. 17 Jelena Ostapenko and 2022 Australian Open runner-up Danielle Collins. Rybakina will take on No. 5 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in Saturday's final. Sabalenka reached her first Grand Slam title match by defeating unseeded Magda Linette 7-6 (1), 6-2 in the semifinals.
Tommy Paul's run to the semifinals at the Australian Open is the latest in a series of signs that men from the United States are relevant again in tennis. The last Grand Slam singles title for an American man came when Andy Roddick won the 2003 U.S. Open. Paul will try to take the next step toward ending that drought when he faces 21-time major champion Novak Djokovic in the final four on Friday. The other men's semifinal is Stefanos Tsitsipas against Karen Khachanov. Paul's breakthrough comes a few months after countryman Frances Tiafoe reached the semifinals at the U.S. Open. There are projected to be 10 men from the U.S. in the ATP top 50 when the rankings are released Monday. That is the most since 1995.
NBA
Julius Randle had 37 points and nine rebounds, and hit the free throws that gave the New York Knicks the lead for good in a 120-117 overtime victory over the Boston Celtics. Jalen Brunson added 29 points, seven assists and a game-ending blocked shot for New York, which has won two straight. Immanuel Quickley finished with 17 points and five rebounds. Boston’s Jaylen Brown had a chance to put the Celtics ahead with 7.6 seconds remaining, but misfired on two free throws, forcing the Celtics to foul. Jayson Tatum, who was voted an All-Star game starter for the third consecutive season prior to tip-off, finished with 35 points and 14 rebounds.
Saddiq Bey scored 25 points and the Detroit Pistons won in Brooklyn for the first time in nearly five years, beating the Nets 130-122. Alec Burks added 20 for the Pistons, who snapped a four-game losing streak and were playing for the first time since giving up 150 points in a loss to Milwaukee on Monday. They took advantage of a short-handed Nets team playing the second night of a back-to-back to win at Barclays Center for the first time since April 1, 2018, ending a six-game skid. They had lost seven in a row overall to the Nets. Kyrie Irving scored 40 points for the Nets, his fifth straight with 30 or more.
LeBron James is closing in on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s NBA career scoring record. And now, he has caught Abdul-Jabbar on another page of the All-Star record book. James was announced Thursday as an NBA All-Star for the 19th time, the Los Angeles Lakers’ star tying Abdul-Jabbar for the most selections in league history. James was the leading overall vote-getter and will be the captain of one of the teams for the Feb. 19 All-Star Game in Salt Lake City. Eastern Conference voting leader Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks will captain the other side.
NHL
Tage Thompson had a goal and an assist and the Buffalo Sabres beat the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 on Thursday night for their fifth straight victory. Thompson scored his 34th goal of the season and stretched his points streak to six games. He has three goals and seven assists during the streak. Owen Power and Victor Olofsson also scored for the Sabres, Jeff Skinner and Rasmus Dahlin each had a pair of assists, and Eric Comrie stopped 19 shots. Nate Schmidt and Pierre-Luc Dubois scored for Winnipeg, and Connor Hellebuyck made 33 saves.
Matt Duchene scored a third-period goal and assisted on another to lead the Nashville Predators to a 6-4 victory over the New Jersey Devils. Cody Glass, Cole Smith, Mikael Granlund, Filip Forsberg and Tanner Jeannot also scored for Nashville, which has won three straight and five of six heading into the All-Star break. Juuse Saros stopped 36 shots, and Juuso Parssinen had two assists. Jack Hughes had a goal and an assist for the Devils, who lost in regulation for just the second time in January and fell to 7-1-1 in their last nine games. Jesper Bratt, Yegor Sharangovich and Dawson Mercer also scored for New Jersey. Mackenzie Blackwood made 35 saves and Dougie Hamilton had three assists.
Victor Hedman scored the go-ahead goal with 6:31 remaining and the Tampa Bay Lightning tied a team record with their 11th straight home victory by defeating the NHL-best Boston Bruins 3-2. The Lightning matched the franchise mark for consecutive home wins, set in 2019-20. They ended Boston’s six-game winning streak and the Bruins’ run of seven road victories in a row. Brandon Hagel and Nikita Kucherov also scored for Tampa Bay, which defeated the Bruins for the first time in three tries this season. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 37 saves. Brad Marchand and Pavel Zacha had the goals for the Bruins, who fell to 38-6-4. Ullmark stopped 32 shots.
Mats Zuccarello scored in overtime, Matt Boldy had two goals and the Minnesota Wild returned home with a 3-2 win against the Philadelphia Flyers. Marc-Andre Fleury made 28 saves for Minnesota which had lost three in a row and was 1-3 on a four-game road trip. Tony DeAngelo sent the game into overtime for the Flyers with his eighth goal of the season with 1:28 remaining in regulation. Noah Cates also scored for Philadelphia, which has lost five of seven. Carter Hart stopped 20 shots.
Nicklas Backstrom had the shootout winner to help the Washington Capitals beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 in a matchup of rivals jockeying for position in the Eastern Conference playoff race. Alex Ovechkin scored his 32nd goal of the season and 812th of his NHL career. The Capitals snapped a two-game skid. Pittsburgh extended its point streak to six. The Penguins played past regulation for the fifth time in six games. Pittsburgh's Casey DeSmith stopped 43 of 45 shots he faced in regulation and overtime.
NFL
It's championship Sunday this weekend in the NFL. Up first, the San Francisco 49ers are at the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship game, Sunday, January 29, 3 p.m. on Fox.
At 6:30 p.m. on CBS, the Cincinnati Bengals travel to Kansas City to take on the Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game.
The New York Jets have hired former Denver Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett as their offensive coordinator. The team announced the hiring Thursday of the 43-year-old Hackett, who replaces Mike LaFleur. Hackett went 4-11 in less than one season as head coach of the Broncos. Hackett’s arrival will fuel some speculation about whether the Jets could pursue Aaron Rodgers, whose playing future is uncertain. Hackett served as the Packers’ offensive coordinator from 2019-21 with Rodgers as the quarterback. The Jets also announced that Keith Carter was hired as the team’s offensive line coach/run game coordinator.
The Carolina Panthers have hired Frank Reich as their new head coach following an extensive search. The 61-year-old Reich joins the Panthers after spending the past four-plus seasons with the Indianapolis Colts, where he went 40-33-1 as head coach before being fired on Nov. 7. The Colts went to the playoffs twice as a wild-card team under Reich. For Reich, the hire represents a return to Carolina, where he spent one season as the team’s quarterback and started the franchise’s inaugural game in 1995. He was chosen over candidates including Steve Wilks, who served as the team’s defensive coordinator before being promoted to interim coach.
Coach Kyle Shanahan’s success in San Francisco overseeing productive offenses without elite quarterback play is a reason why so many teams each January are seeking the next trendy, play-calling offensive coach to take over their team. All four head coaches in the conference championship games come from an offensive background with Kansas City’s Andy Reid and Cincinnati’s Zac Taylor also calling plays like Shanahan, while Philadelphia’s Nick Sirianni delegated that duty during his first season.
US Soccer
U.S. Soccer Federation sporting director Earnie Stewart is leaving to join PSV Eindhoven following the departure of American general manager Brian McBride. The management shakeup leaves men’s coach Gregg Berhalter in uncertainty. Berhalter and McBride were hired by Stewart, and the coach’s contract expired Dec. 31. Three days later, the USSF announced Berhalter was under investigation for a 1991 domestic violence incident. Anthony Hudson was then appointed interim coach. USSF president Cindy Parlow Cone said Berhalter remained a contender to stay on for the next World Cup cycle.
GOLF
Sam Ryder extended his lead to three shots in the Farmers Insurance Open with a 4-under 68 in challenging wind in the second round on Torrey Pines’ South Course. Meanwhile, Jon Rahm had an eagle followed by three straight birdies late in his 5-under 67 on the easier North Course to get under the cut line. Ryder survived both the Santa Ana wind and the tougher South Course with just one bogey to reach 12-under 132 and take a three-stroke lead over Brendan Steele, who shot a 70 on the South Course. Tano Goya was two more shots back after a 67 on the North Course.
Billy Packer dies at 82
Billy Packer, an Emmy award-winning college basketball broadcaster who covered 34 Final Fours for NBC and CBS, has died at 82. Packer's son, Mark, told The Associated Press on Thursday night that his father had been hospitalized for the past three weeks and had several medical issues, and ultimately succumbed to kidney failure. Packer’s broadcasting career coincided with the growth of college basketball. He worked as analyst or color commentator on every Final Four from 1975 to 2008.
