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Medvedev Australian Open 2021 - lost in final to Novak Djokovic
Australian Open, Daniil Medvedev, Novak Djokovic, Tennis News

Daniil Medvedev wasn’t mentally strong enough to deal with Novak Djokovic, says Toni Nadal


Toni Nadal says Daniil Medvedev lost in the final of the Australian Open because he was not strong enough mentally to deal with Novak Djokovic.

Medvedev was in brilliant form going into the final, with many predicting he would beat the world number one and win his maiden major.

However, he was comprehensively outclassed by Djokovic, but Nadal says it had much more to do with his mentality than his tennis.

“I’m sure Daniil came out to the Rod Laver Arena with all the information about Novak well analysed, but he was not able to retain his poise, to overcome the frustration of not winning the first set, or to keep up the fight in those difficult moments,” Toni Nadal told El Pais.

“It surprises me that, sometimes, athletes of this level have that little capacity to face the difficulty.

“A day before the final, he said that the pressure was higher for Djokovic, who cannot miss the opportunity to win titles if he wants to match Roger and Rafael.

“But the outcome of the match showed that the pressure was much greater for him.

“The difference between scoring a first Grand Slam or missing a new opportunity has an overwhelming weight, no matter how young you are.”


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Michael Graham, Tennishead.net Editor, has been a professional sports journalist for his whole career and is especially passionate about tennis. He's been the Editor of Tennishead.net for over 5 years and loves watching live tennis by visiting as many tournaments as possible. Michael specialises in writing in-depth features about the ATP & WTA tours.