After the local hopes have been eliminated from the Australian Open, Stefanos Tsitsipas has emerged as the next best thing as Melbourne has adopted the Greek star as a de facto home-town hero.

Tsitsipas will face the in-form Karen Khachanov in a semi-final on Friday, vying for a place against either Novak Djokovic – or Tommy Paul, if the American can pull off the biggest upset of the tournament so far.