Premiere day in Melbourne… On Sunday, the Australian Open will have a new king.
A few hours after the feat of Jannik Sinner (No. 4) against Novak Djokovic (No. 1), Daniil Medvedev (No. 3) joined the Italian in the final by reversing a very compromised situation against Alexander Zverev (No. ° 6) after five sets (5-7, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-3 in 4h18).
Because in this duel of Stakhanovists from the courts, who had both spent more than 16 hours of play to reach the last four, the German appeared from the outset much fresher and more aggressive than the Russian.
😮 51 moves: the monumental rally won by Zverev against Medvedev!
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From the start of the match, the Hamburg native broke away, leading 4-1, double break.
Zverev then served for the set at 5-4 before breaking down in the baseline fight.
In a disheveled end to the set, the German, who often faltered mentally, took his rival's service a third time at 5-5 then saved two new break points to finally manage to conclude by superbly picking up the points at net.
Put under pressure, blunted, guilty of numerous unforced errors and down on his first serves, Medvedev once again gave in on his throw at 2-2 to let a conquering and solid Zverev slip towards winning the second set.
Zverev has lost six of his seven Grand Slam semi-finals
In the third round, with his back to the wall, Medvedev put up resistance and regained some color.
After an exceptional exchange by fetching a well-hit drop shot from Zverev to catch him on the wrong foot, the Muscovite even offered himself a break point at 4-4.
Without success but it was only a postponement.
Because Zverev ended up giving in and giving in in the decisive game…
In the fourth set, much less serene, the Hamburger had to save two break points at 4-3 after an air shot on a smash that was quite rare at this level.
As in the previous round, the outcome was decided by a tie-break.
With a lot of luck for the Russian on a failed return of serve transformed into a winning dropshot followed by an ace to conclude...
Frustrated, irritated by this twist of fate, the Olympic champion (who will therefore have won only one of his seven Grand Slam halves) ended up letting the match slip away at 2-2 with four big unforced errors on the forehand facing a rival who becomes more and more dashing as the hours go by.
And Medvedev concluded at 6-3 with another missed forehand from the German.
Down a set, locked at 5-5 in a tiebreak he *has* to win to keep his #AusOpen dream alive, @DaniilMedwed just did this... 🤯🤯🤯
Then he sent down a thunderbolt first serve to clinch the set AND send us to decide.
#AusOpen • @wwos • @espn • @eurosport • @wowowtennis pic.twitter.com/XdhiIrSnYe
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 26, 2024
On Sunday, Medvedev, 27, will aim for a first title in Australia after two finals lost to Djokovic in 2021 and especially Nadal in 2022 when he was turned around by the Spanish ghost while leading by two sets and a break.
Winner of the US Open 2021, the former world No. 1, who had already overcome a handicap from two sets to nothing in the 2nd round, however has on his side the experience of a final day of a Grand Slam (it will be his sixth final) unlike his next opponent, a novice at this level.
But the march looks set to be high against Sinner, who seems to be flying on the courts since last November with a Masters final and a Davis Cup victory in the process.