Daniil Medvedev says third set gave him jitters en route his 6-4, 6-2, 7-5 win over Tsitsipas to book summit clash with World No. 1 Novak Djokovic
Russia’s Daniil Medvedev returns to Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas during their Australian Open semi-final match at Melbourne yesterday. Pic/AFP
Russia’s Daniil Medvedev overpowered Stefanos Tsitsipas to make his first Australian Open final on Friday, where he will bid to stop World No. 1 Novak Djokovic from clinching an unprecedented ninth title.
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The fourth seed proved far too strong for Greece’s Tsitsipas, crushing him 6-4, 6-2, 7-5 in front of more than 7,000 noisy fans at Rod Laver Arena to extend his win streak to 20. The 25-year-old, ultra-confident on the back of his unbeaten run, which includes three titles, has been knocking on the door of Grand Slam success for some time, but has yet to win a title.
To finally get over the line he must on Sunday beat top seed Djokovic, who has won all eight finals he has played at Melbourne Park. But nobody on tour has more momentum than Medvedev, whose tricky game has stymied all opponents since November, and he has won three of his last four against the 17-time Grand Slam-winning Serb. “It definitely wasn’t easy,” said Medvedev, only the third Russian after Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Marat Safin to reach the Australian Open final.
“I got a little bit scared and tight [in the third set] because it’s a semi-final of a Slam...but happy I was able to turn my game on, especially in some tight moments on my serve.” Twelve of his 20 straight wins have been against top-10 players and Medvedev said he took a lot of confidence out of that heading into Sunday’s decider.
“For the confidence, when you beat everybody, is just great, because I think people start maybe to be a little bit scared of you,” he said.
“At the same time, sometimes there are gonna be some that are gonna want to beat you even more. It’s a tricky situation.” Medvedev came into the showdown boasting a 5-1 edge in their head-to-heads and with a frosty relationship stemming from Shanghai in 2019, when the popular Greek blasted his playing style as “boring”.
Fifth seed Tsitsipas was backing up from a stunning five-set upset of 20-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal, but it was an energy-sapping four-hour epic and he appeared to feel the effects. “Playing in a semi-final is a difficult thing,” said the Greek. “I just need to find a way to get there and just be in the same state of mind. I’ve proven that I have the level to beat these players.”
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