(Tennis news) When Medvedev astonishingly rallied from two sets down to defeat Alexander Zverev, Sinner broke Novak Djokovic’s run of dominance in Australia and advanced to his first major final.
The Italian stunned the Rod Laver crowd on Friday morning with a stunning performance, but Djokovic’s golden touch escaped him. During their semi-final match, which took place on Friday morning, Sinner and the 10-time and defending champion exchanged more tennis history than could fill a short book.
After an impressive performance spanning three hours and twenty-two minutes, Sinner became the first Italian singles player to reach the Australian Open final and only the third player from his country to reach a Grand Slam main draw. His victory came via a 6-1 6-2 6-7[6] 6-3 score.
While Djokovic was left to bemoan one of his self-confessed “worst” displays at a major tournament to date – the world number one committed a whopping 54 unforced errors and four double faults – Sinner dazzled with an exemplary all-around game, denying Djokovic a single chance to break in the semi-final.
The 22-year-old – who is also the youngest man in 16 years to reach the Australian Open final since Djokovic himself in 2008 – was near-impenetrable behind his first serve too, winning 83% of such points and also boasting an identical win rate at the net to inflict Djokovic’s first-ever Melbourne semi-final exit upon him.
Now entering uncharted territory in his inaugural major final, Sinner – who was an ATP Finals finalist in 2023, only to fall to Djokovic’s superiority on that occasion – is bidding to win career title number 11 on Sunday, but he will have to go through one of the ATP Tour’s hard-court aficionados to do it.
The 19th top-level meeting between Medvedev and Zverev was an engrossing battle from start to finish on Friday night, and the former’s error-strewn early display would ostensibly put paid to his hopes of Australian Open stardom, but victory would soon be snatched from the jaws of defeat.
Forever recognisable on the court with his enviable reach and fascinating approach of receiving way behind the baseline – which he abandoned late on in the semi-final – Medvedev’s tactical nous won out in a marathon encounter, as the third seed came up trumps 5-7 3-6 7-6[4] 7-6[5] 6-3 in four hours and 18 minutes.
Only 60% of Medvedev’s first serves found the mark on Friday, where the former US Open champion also registered an unsightly six double faults, but he eventually managed to work Zverev’s aggression to his advantage, as the German racked up 70 unforced errors en route to more semi-final disappointment.
The Russian third seed now endeavours to make it third time lucky in the Australian Open final, having been forced to accept the runners-up prize against Djokovic in 2021 and Rafael Nadal in 2022, but all six of his Grand Slam finals would have now been contested on the hard court.
Whether such specialities come to the fore on Sunday is another question entirely, though, as Sinner’s beating of Djokovic marked the first match of the 2024 Australian Open in which the Italian failed to win in straight sets. For a jelly-legged Medvedev, five of his six contests Down Under have gone to at least four sets.
Also read: Alexander Zverev will play Daniil Medvedev in Australian Open
