Daniil Medvedev reveals he ‘will be the happiest man on the planet’ if he wins the Australian Open
Daniil Medvedev has fought back from two-sets-to-love down for the second time at the 2024 Australian Open, as he hopes to be ‘third time lucky’ at the Melbourne major.
Medvedev trailed sixth seed Alexander Zverev, 5-7 3-6, before fighting back to win two tie-break sets and then the decider, 6-3.
The Russian had played five sets in the quarter-final as well against Hubert Hurkacz, and had fought back from two sets down against Emil Ruusuvuori in the second round.
It will be a sixth Grand Slam final for Medvedev, and his third at the Australian Open, with the former No.1 hoping for a change in fate after previous final losses to Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
“I managed to win and I’m very proud,” said Medvedev. “First of all we say third time lucky so let’s see. I can say from experience it doesn’t always work but hopefully in Australia they have this phrase.
“It will mean a lot because this court is not my best court in terms of my performance and self-esteem and that’s why I have had to dig deep. I will be the happiest man on the planet (if I win) but I will have to play pretty well and win three sets on Sunday.”
6 – Daniil Medvedev has made his sixth Grand Slam final, with all on hard court. Since the US Open in 2019, where he made his first Grand Slam final, Medvedev has made the most GS finals on the surface of any male player. Specialist.#AusOpen | @AustralianOpen @DaniilMedwed… pic.twitter.com/dMHFHYMGVa
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) January 26, 2024
Jannik Sinner will be Medvedev’s opponent on Sunday, after the Italian ended the aforementioned Djokovic’s 33-match winning streak at the Australian Open earlier today.
Inside the baseline…
It was an absolutely titanic effort from Daniil Medvedev, who has fought so hard to work his way into the Australian Open final once again. Fatigue is certainly going to be present in the final for the Russian, especially against Sinner who has only dropped one set throughout the tournament. However, Medvedev does have the psychological edge of playing five previous Grand Slam finals and winning the US Open back in 2021.
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Daniil Medvedev vs Jannik Sinner head-to-head
Medvedev may have the lead in the head-to-head with Sinner, but he has been defeated by the Italian in all three of their most recent meetings:
Medvedev vs Sinner: 6-3
- Medvedev beat Sinner, 1-6 6-1 6-2 (Marseille 2020, Second Round)
- Medvedev beat Sinner, 6-2 6-4 (Marseille 2021, Quarter-final)
- Medvedev beat Sinner, 6-0 6(5)-7 7-6(8) (ATP Finals 2021, Round-Robin)
- Medvedev beat Sinner, 6-4 6-2 (Vienna 2022, Quarter-final)
- Medvedev beat Sinner, 5-7 6-2 6-2 (Rotterdam 2023, Final)
- Medvedev beat Sinner, 7-5 6-3 (Miami Masters 2023, Final)
- Sinner beat Medvedev, 7-6(2) 7-6(2) (Beijing 2023, Final)
- Sinner beat Medvedev, 7-6(7) 4-6 6-3 (Vienna 2023, Final)
- Sinner beat Medvedev, 6-3 6(4)-7 6-1 (ATP Finals 2023, Semi-final)
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