Medvedev whips past Tsitsipas to reach Australian Open final

The Russian keeps date with Djokovic in Sunday summit clash

Melbourne: Russian fourth seed Daniil Medvedev on Friday beat Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas to reach his first Australian Open final. Medvedev was clinical throughout the match and dismantled Tsitsipas in straight sets with the score reading 6-4 6-2 7-5 at the Rod Laver Arena.

This is Medvedev’s second Grand Slam final, having made it to the title clash at the 2019 US Open where he lost to Serbia’s Novak Djokovic. Medvedev will be facing Djokovic again on Sunday with the latter vying for a ninth Australian Open title. The 25-year-old Russian is looking to become the first Russian male winner in Melbourne since Marat Safin in 2005.

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Medvedev was largely untroubled throughout the match except in the third set when Tsitsipas threatened to make a comeback as he did in his semi-final match against Rafael Nadal.

Tsitsipas was two sets down to love in that match as well before rallying to take the match in five sets over the 20-time Grand Slam champion. Tsitsipas got his first break to level the third set and then held his serve to lead 4-3. Medvedev then fought back to break back and lead the third set 6-5. He then held his serve again to quell Tsitsipas’s brief fightback.

Meanwhile talking about his clash with Djokovic, Medvedev said:”I don’t have a lot of pressure because Novak has never lost here in the final. He has all the pressure to get to Roger Federer and Rafa (in the all-time record of 20 men’s titles).”

“I hope I will get out there and show my best tennis. As we have seen, I can win against the best names if I play well. He has more experience but more things to lose than me.” Medvedev has prior experience of facing one of the “big three” in a Grand Slam final, having lost to Nadal in the 2019 US Open.

“I took a lot of experience (from the US Open final against Nadal). It was my first Grand Slam final against one of the greatest and on Sunday I will face one of the other greatest,” he said.

Earlier, second-seeded pair Elise Mertens of Belgium and Aryna Sabalenka of Bulgaria beat Czech Republic’s Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova 6-2, 6-3 to win the women’s doubles title of the Australian Open. This is the second Grand Slam title for the pair, having earlier won the 2019 US Open.