‘I don’t know if Medvedev can hang with Nadal at his best’ fears Slam winning legend
Nadal is a surprise finalist but if he plays his best it could be too much for Medvedev, according to a highly respected commentator
Mats Wilander is struggling to pick a winner of the men’s singles final at the Australian Open to be played on Sunday when Spanish legend Rafa Nadal takes on Russian star Daniil Medvedev.
The two have faced each other four times previously with Nadal coming out on top on three of those occasions but Medvedev did win their last encounter back in 2020.
Wilander is a Eurosport commentator and has said,
“The two best players of the tournament have reached the final. I didn’t think Rafa Nadal was going to be one of the two best players to reach the final – Daniil was expected, with Zverev not playing at his best and Novak out an opening emerged. Yes, the two best players in the first six matches, that’s for sure.
“I’m not too sure how Sunday’s match will play out. It will be an absolute monster marathon and physical match where both players are going to figure out a way to get out of the any holes they will fall into. The question will be who falls into the hole when the match reaches the fourth hour.
“I cannot say who I think is going to win because I don’t know. I can see how Medvedev, it’s at night, the ball doesn’t bounce as high, he can stand in his backhand corner and play against Nadal’s forehand and not get that hurt badly and he gets more free points on serve than Rafa. Those points might be enough for him to get over the finish line.
“I can also see another scenario where Rafa is just scratching the surface of what he can actually do on a tennis court. It’s very possible he can come out and play like he did in those first two sets then I don’t know if Medvedev can hang with him.”
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