Stefanos Tsitsipas always felt he had the "ego" to be challenging for grand slams and the world number one ranking after booking his spot in the Australian Open final.

The Greek defeated Karen Khachanov 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 on Rod Laver Arena and will now face either nine-time Melbourne champion Novak Djokovic or Tommy Paul in Sunday's showpiece.

It marks Tsitsipas' second run to a slam final after he was beaten by Djokovic at the French Open in 2021, a match in which he surrendered a two-set lead.

Victory would not only see him win a maiden slam but take ownership of the men's world number one ranking, two ambitions Tsitsipas always believed he could achieve.

"I remember watching it on TV saying to myself, 'I want to be there one day myself. I want to recreate that feeling for me'," he said.

"I knew that's a very long journey to get there. There are certain steps you have to take to give yourself the chance to be competing for something like this.

"But I very much believed it. First of all, it's your ego that speaks. You either have it or not. As a kid, I was very confident. 

"Thank God I was good in my country. Starting from that, I knew if I'm able to get out of my country and compete in other countries, European leagues, European tours, I proved myself over and over again that I'm actually good. 

"I did finish as a junior number one. Now I want to do it in the men's side, in the men's professional tennis."

Asked what had changed since losing to Djokovic in the final at Roland Garros almost two years ago, Tsitsipas said: "I'm playing great tennis. I'm enjoying myself. I just see no downside or negativity in what I'm trying to do out there. Even if it doesn't work, I'm very optimistic and positive about any outcome, any opponent that I have to face.

"This is something that has been sort of lacking in my game. I genuinely believe in what I'm able to produce. That is more than enough. I go about this way. I strive for it every single day. It might not go the way I want it to, but I put 110 per cent out there."

Khachanov has enjoyed back-to-back slam semi-finals having also made the last four at last year's US Open.

The 26-year-old retains belief that he can beyond the semis at future slams.

"Maybe in some situations I could do better. It's always like this. Tennis is always, like any other sport, there is no draw unfortunately in our sport. One guy has to win and to go through," he said.

"I would say I did it second time in a row, consecutive semi-finals. I would definitely go with my head high. Again, rest a couple of days, think with my team for next schedule, again to have a team meeting to discuss those particular situations and moments on what we need to work.

"Hopefully I keep believing that I can pass this step next time, if I am in this situation, hopefully. That's it."

The New York Knicks proved they "can beat anybody" by taking down the Boston Celtics on Thursday, but Julius Randle wants his "special" team to show the same focus every night.

The league-leading Celtics suffered their first home defeat in eight games as the Knicks snatched a 120-117 overtime win at TD Garden.

Randle, back in his All-Star form of the 2020-21 season, was the main man for New York in scoring 37 points, including five in OT.

Boston led by as many as five points in the extra session, only for Randle to respond with a 27-foot three-pointer. The Knicks forward soon put his team ahead for good with a pair of free throws.

Only the Celtics themselves (17-9) have a better road record this year than the Knicks (15-10), who have also celebrated impressive wins at the Philadelphia 76ers and the Denver Nuggets.

Randle and Co. are still only seventh in the East, however, and must show greater consistency.

"We can beat anybody; we can lose to anybody," said Randle. "That's the league.

"We can see how special we can be on a night-to-night basis if we come in with the right focus."

Randle's three biggest performances have come on the road, where he is averaging 26.6 points per game versus 23.0 at home.

Rory McIlroy was tied with rival Patrick Reed for the lead after the delayed conclusion to round one of the Dubai Desert Classic, though the Northern Irishman was not entirely satisfied with his performance.

The build-up to the tournament has been dominated by a spat between world number one McIlroy and LIV Golf defector Reed.

American Reed labelled McIlroy an "immature little child" for blanking him at the practice range and was also alleged to have thrown a tee at McIlroy.

McIlroy said Reed's lawyer served him with court papers on Christmas Eve, although Reed has said he was not behind the subpoena, with the case concerned being one brought by American attorney Larry Klayman relating to divisions between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour.

A strong start from both players on a rain-delayed day one raised the possibility of an intriguing pairing over the weekend.

And the chances of that happening were increased with McIlroy – who started on the back nine – closing birdie, eagle, birdie to finish his first round at six under par.

Reed matched that score thanks to a 15-foot eagle at the last.

Asked for his thoughts about how he played in round one, McIlroy said: "Honestly, not very good. I struggled out there most of yesterday. I thought I did well to be under par by the end of the day. I fought back after some very sloppy rusty golf over the first sort of 14 holes.

"And then today I came out and I don't really know if anything clicked because I don't think I hit enough shots to know, but it was definitely needed.

"I would have been happy with anything around 70 the way I played, and then to come in and shoot 66 is quite the bonus."

The highlight for McIlroy was holing out from 114 yards out of the sand at the eighth (his 17th).

"You know, I wouldn't say I'm the best fairway bunker player in the world. The desert is a little nicer, it's a little more packed down, so you get some better lies," he said.

"All I was thinking about was catching it clean. My tendency out of those lies is to hit it a little bit heavy. As soon as I struck it – went down the grip a little bit just to make sure of the strike – I knew it came out really nicely and it was right down the pin.

"Again, anything inside of 20 feet, I would have been happy with, so that was certainly a bonus."

Luka Doncic looked "fine" and was "smiling" but the Dallas Mavericks require more information on the ankle injury that saw him leave early in the 99-95 win over the Phoenix Suns.

Superstar Doncic lasted just three minutes of Thursday's road game due to a sprained left ankle, doing the damage when standing on a defender's foot and pivoting.

He immediately limped off with director of player health and performance Casey Smith, and later went for an X-ray that was negative.

Head coach Jason Kidd provided a brief update on Doncic after the game, though details of the severity of his injury remained light, saying they will know more ahead of Saturday's contest with the Utah Jazz.

"He was in good spirits. He looked good. He looked fine," Kidd said in quotes reported by the Dallas Morning News.

"But we'll see as we go forward here. We'll have probably more information once we get to Utah.

"He was smiling and he was happy for his team-mates, saying DP [Dwight Powell] made some big free throws but then to come up with that missed free throw rebound. 

"Just his grit tonight for DP was at a high level. The character of that team played hard and found a way to win.

"It was the whole group defensively. To hold a team like Phoenix under 100 points is a big deal. The guys in that locker room should be proud."

Without Doncic, Spencer Dinwiddie contributed a season-high 36 points, while Dorian Finney-Smith had 18 to go with 12 rebounds.

"It's just an all-around great team effort. Once we found out [Luka] was out, we just stepped up," Finney-Smith said.

The Mavericks (26-24) had lost six straight regular-season games to the Suns prior to the win, though they did topple them in last year's Conference semifinals.

Stefanos Tsitsipas will get a chance to play for his first grand slam title after advancing past Karen Khachanov 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 in Friday's semi-final.

Tsitsipas was at his aggressive best, compiling a massive 66 winners to go with his 18 aces. It was his highest winner tally of the tournament so far, eclipsing his 48 in five sets against Jannik Sinner, and his 46 in three sets against Quentin Halys.

Despite his high level of play, the first set was closely contested as both players secured a pair of breaks, but Tsitsipas was able to rattle off five consecutive points in the tiebreaker to run away with the opener.

The world number four did not allow Khachanov a single break-point opportunity in a stylish second set, and it was the same story in the third until Khachanov crucially took his one break-point chance as Tsitsipas was serving for the match.

Khachanov showed guts to fight off two match points and take the third in a tiebreaker, but he was just delaying the inevitable as Tsitsipas racked up 17 winners to five and made the fourth set the shortest of the match.

Tsitsipas will face the winner between Novak Djokovic and Tommy Paul in the final, with a chance to become Greece's first grand slam champion at the age of 24.

Data Slam: Tsitsipas conquers his demons down under

It was the fourth time Tsitsipas had reached the final four of the Australian Open, but after failures in 2019, 2021 and 2022, the Greek finally got over the line against his Russian challenger.

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS

Tsitsipas – 18/5

Khachanov – 10/1

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS

Tsitsipas – 66/34

Khachanov – 46/32

BREAK POINTS WON

Tsitsipas – 5/12

Khachanov – 3/4

The Brooklyn Nets are having their 'next man up' mentality pushed to the limit after Ben Simmons and T.J. Warren both left Thursday's 130-122 loss against the Detroit Pistons with knee injuries.

Brooklyn are already without MVP candidate Kevin Durant as he recovers from an MCL sprain in his right knee, while bench spark plug Seth Curry also missed Thursday's game with soreness in his right knee.

Their injury situation went from bad to worse against the Pistons as Simmons exited the game in the third quarter and did not return due to left knee soreness, before Warren suffered a left knee contusion and was taken out in the fourth quarter.

Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn said after the game that he is unsure whether one or both would undergo MRI scans on Friday, and while both injuries appear minor, it is unknown if they will be able to suit up for Saturday's rivalry game against the New York Knicks.

Despite the loss, it was an impressive day for Kyrie Irving, who was named an All-Star starter before dropping a game-high 40 points (14-of-27 shooting) with six assists, five rebounds, two blocks and two steals.

Speaking to the media after his performance, Irving said he would do all he can to keep the Nets afloat, but lamented the uncertainty the team faces in their next stretch after losing six of their past eight fixtures.

"I can't control everyone's emotions day-to-day, as much as I see myself as one of the leaders of our team," he said. 

"But what I can show is just a consistency to continue to work on off-days, and after the games, and before the games, and just continue to prepare at a very high level. 

"Whoever's available for us to play will be available and we just move onto the next game. As much as I would love to sit up here and give you guys a nice diatribe of what it looks like in the future, I just don't know.

"T.J. being out, Ben being out, so we just got to take it one day at a time, and we just want those guys to get healthy –  that's the most important thing. We just got to carry our own water right now. Chop wood, carry water."

Despite their recent rough patch, the Nets still sit fourth in the Eastern Conference with a record of 29-19 thanks to a 12-game winning streak before Durant's injury.

The Dallas Mavericks will be hoping to get away with a minor injury after franchise centrepiece Luka Doncic sprained his ankle and departed Thursday's game in the first quarter.

The incident occurred just three minutes into the Mavericks' road game against the Phoenix Suns as Doncic accidentally stepped on a defender's foot, turning his ankle.

Dallas immediately called a timeout and Doncic was helped back to the locker room, before being ruled out at quarter-time.

The Mavericks announced their initial X-rays were negative, indicating there are no broken bones, but they will need an MRI to determine how much damage has been done.

Doncic has suited up for 45 of the Mavericks' 50 games up until this point, and he entered play leading the league in scoring with 33.8 points, 9.1 rebounds and 8.6 assists per contest.

His zero points against the Suns could see him fall behind Joel Embiid (33.4 points per game) in the race for the scoring title, but Doncic has already collected one major honour this season after it was announced early on Thursday that he will be an All-Star for the fourth consecutive year, and a starter for the third time.

The New York Knicks rode terrific performances from the dynamic duo of Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson to a 120-117 overtime victory on the road against the Boston Celtics on Thursday.

Randle, who is on track to make his second All-Star team, scored a game-high 37 points on 13-of-25 shooting while grabbing nine rebounds. His partner-in-crime, Brunson, led both teams with seven assists to go with 29 points on 12-of-25 shooting.

For the Celtics, Jayson Tatum had a team-high 35 points on 12-of-26 shooting, including the game-tying basket with 48 seconds remaining to force overtime at 110-110.

Randle and team-mate R.J. Barrett scored five points each in the extra session to pull away for the win, improving to 27-23 overall, which includes the league's second-best road record (15-10). The only team with a better record away from home this season is the Celtics (17-9).

In his fifth start of the season, second-year Knicks center Jericho Sims grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds as he continues to fill-in for the injured Mitchell Robinson, while Immanuel Quickley chipped in 17 points (seven-of-12 shooting) off the bench.

Pistons ruin Kyrie's big night

Kyrie Irving's 40 points were not enough to prevent his Brooklyn Nets from going down 130-122 at home against the Detroit Pistons.

After being named an All-Star starter earlier in the day, Irving shot 14-of-27 from the field while adding six assists, five rebounds, two steals and two blocks.

But the Pistons had eight of their nine players reach double-figures in a well-rounded display, led by Saddiq Bey with a team-high 25 points (10-of-19 shooting), while highly rated rookie point guard Jaden Ivey had a game-high eight assists with his 16 points and two steals.

The Nets have now lost six of their past eight fixtures to slip to 29-19 as they desperately await the return of Kevin Durant from injury.

Cavs pile on the punishment

The Houston Rockets were relegated to their 20th loss from their past 22 outings as the Cleveland Cavaliers came into town and left 113-95 victors.

Darius Garland scored a game-high 26 points (nine-of-16 shooting) with nine assists and four steals to lead the Cavs, while their star defensive duo of Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley both collected double-doubles.

On the bright side for the Rockets – who own the NBA's worst record at 11-38 – it was the ninth game in a row exciting young center Alperen Sengun has tallied at least six assists. Over that span, the only centers averaging more than his 6.8 assists are Draymond Green (7.0), Domantas Sabonis (10.0) and Nikola Jokic (11.2).

LeBron James is set to tie the record for the most All-Star Game appearances in NBA history after being announced as one of the two team captains on Thursday.

James, who will match Kareem Abdul-Jabbar when he suits up for his 19th All-Star Game in Salt Lake City next month, will be joined by Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo as the captains. 

In a league-first, the captains will draft their reserves live in the lead-up to tip-off, as opposed to previous years when the draft was conducted via a pre-recorded segment and aired weeks before the game.

While most of the expected names were announced as starters – including reigning back-to-back MVP Nikola Jokic and Golden State Warriors icon Stephen Curry – there were also some surprises.

The two head-scratchers were New Orleans Pelicans franchise player Zion Williamson and controversial Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving.

Williamson is averaging the highest points per game figure (26.0) for any player shooting at least 60 per cent from the field this season, but has only played in 29 of the Pelicans' 49 games so far. He is also scheduled to miss at least two more weeks, meaning he will have only played in roughly half of the possible games by the time All-Star Weekend arrives.

Meanwhile, Irving has a stronger case as he averages 26.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.2 assists, but his addition as a starter in the East means relegating reigning scoring champion and back-to-back MVP runner-up Joel Embiid to the bench.

After James' 19th appearance, the next-most among the starters belongs to Kevin Durant, who has missed some time with injury in his own right but was playing at an MVP level prior to earn his 13th All-Star nod. Curry will play in his ninth edition, while Irving now has eight and Antetokounmpo has made seven consecutive.

The full list of starters includes:

Western Conference 

LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers

Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets

Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks

Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors

Zion Williamson, New Orleans Pelicans

Eastern Conference

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks

Kevin Durant, Brooklyn Nets

Kyrie Irving, Brooklyn Nets

Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics

Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers

Sam Ryder is in a strong position to make a run at his first PGA Tour victory as he heads into the weekend at the Farmers Insurance Open with a three-stroke buffer atop the leaderboard.

Ryder, 33, has not collected a professional win since his Web.com Tour triumph back in 2017, but after banking a second-place finish in 2021 and a third-place result in 2022, he now has his best chance at a PGA Tour title.

The American owned a share of the lead after an eight-under 64 in his opening round on the Torrey Pines North Course, and he followed it with a four-under 68 on the South Course during Friday's second round. The final two rounds will be played on the South Course, which has hosted the U.S. Open twice.

Ryder's co-leaders after 18 holes both had far more trouble on the South Course, with Brent Grant posting a two-over 74 to drop to six under, while England's Aaron Rai shot himself out of contention with a six-over 78.

Alone in second place is Ryder's playing partner from the first two days, Brendan Steele, who went two under on the more difficult South Course to reach the weekend at nine under.

Incredibly, Steele is the only player within five strokes of the leader, with Argentina's Tano Goya sitting in solo third place at seven under.

Despite Grant's massive drop-off, he still owns a share of fourth place at six under, where he is part of a six-man group including Max Homa and Sahith Theegala.

Former world number one Jason Day and current top-10 talent Collin Morikawa round out the top-10 at five under, while Jon Rahm, who has won four of his past six starts, is one further back at four under.

Diego Simeone has reiterated his happiness with Atletico Madrid despite the club looking set for another season without a trophy.

The Argentine saw his side let a one-goal lead slip in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals to rivals Real Madrid, who won 3-1 after extra-time at Santiago Bernabeu.

Atletico's exit effectively signals the end of any silverware prospects for the season, with the club currently fourth in LaLiga, 13 points behind leaders Barcelona, and also out of Europe.

But Simeone reaffirmed his commitment to the Rojiblancos in his post-match comments, insisting he will not walk away of his own accord yet.

"I am enormously happy to be at Atletico," he said. "[I have been] from the day I arrived. I am going to give everything I have until I leave.

"I will give myself a thousand per cent with this team and with the club. Now, I only have [it] in my head to work with joy and enthusiasm.

"I have done that from the day I arrived [and I will do so] until the day [that] I have to go. That will come some day [but not now]."

Atletico ended the match with 10 men, having seen Stefan Savic dismissed in extra-time with the score at 1-1 for back-to-back bookings.

Frustrations from Atleti players over Dani Ceballos avoiding a second yellow for a foul earlier in the match boiled over after the final whistle.

Goalkeeper Jan Oblak suggested that his team get unfair treatment from match officials when playing their rivals, and said they should be accustomed to such difficulties.

"If it is a red for us, it should be a red for them too," he added. "I think they should have had their second yellow card.

"It's been decided that way and we're used to it by now. Even so, we've fought to the end against everyone."

Ajax have sacked head coach Alfred Schreuder after a poor run of results.

Schreuder replaced Erik ten Hag after his move to Manchester United at the end of last season, and initially seemed to be a good fit in Amsterdam, winning his first six league games and thrashing Rangers 4-0 in Ajax's first Champions League game of the season.

However, elimination from the Champions League group stage also led to form dipping drastically in the Eredivisie, having not won a league game since October, although that gap included a break for the 2022 World Cup. 

Following Thursday's 1-1 home draw with strugglers Volendam, the club decided to act after failing to win any of their past seven games in the Eredivisie (D6 L1), leaving them fifth in the table, seven points behind leaders Feyenoord.

It is Ajax's joint-longest winless run in Eredivisie history (also seven in 1962, 1964 and 1965).

A statement from the Dutch giants read: "The many points lost and the team's lack of development are the main reasons for this decision. 

"The club management no longer has confidence in further cooperation."

Ajax confirmed that assistant coach Matthias Kaltenbach had also been dismissed.

The club's chief executive Edwin van der Sar added: "It is a painful decision, but also a necessary one.

"After a good start to the season, we then lost an unnecessary number of points... In recent weeks it became increasingly clear that [Schreuder] could not turn the tide, while we believe that despite the many transfers he had a strong and championship worthy squad at his disposal.

"We have also lost a lot of points in recent weeks and unfortunately we did not see any progress."

Karim Benzema suggests Real Madrid must find earlier goals in games if they do not wish to suffer after their 3-1 Copa del Rey comeback against Atletico Madrid.

Los Blancos failed to find the net until the final quarter-hour of regular time at the Santiago Bernabeu, when Rodrygo cancelled out Alvaro Morata's opener.

His superb solo finish forced extra-time in Thursday's quarter-final tie, with further goals for Benzema and Vinicius Junior cementing the turnaround for the hosts.

The reigning winner of the Ballon d'Or acknowledged his side made themselves work for their spot in the last four with their performance at points, but stresses they always had the quality to respond.

"It was a very difficult and complicated game," the France international reflected afterwards. "But with the players and talent we have, we knew we could make a comeback of it.

"Perhaps we need to score goals sooner, because we don't like to suffer. Atletico positioned themselves well, got in behind, and that cost us. Rodrygo's response was a great goal."

For Vinicius, his goal ensured a bright finish to a difficult day in which an effigy of the Brazilian winger was hung from a bridge near Madrid's training ground ahead of the derby.

Coach Carlo Ancelotti praised the 22-year-old in his post-match comments, adding there was never any doubt he would miss the match despite the incident.

"Vinicius has always wanted to play and was very focused on the game," he said. "He played a great game. What happened elsewhere today has been very regrettable."