Daniil Medvedev (No. 3) has experience on his side: the former world No. 1, titled at the US Open in 2021, will play his sixth major final, his third in Melbourne, after losing two in 2021 ( against Novak Djokovic) and 2022 (against Nadal).
To discover
Australian Open: women’s schedule and results
Australian Open: men’s schedule and results
Conversely, Jannik Sinner (n°4) will discover what a Grand Slam final is, at 22 years old.
But the young Italian with his formidable strike force has just shown what he is made of by signing an unprecedented feat on Friday: stopping Djokovic at the Australian Open once he reached the last four.
“Obviously it means a lot to me to beat Novak here in Melbourne, but the tournament is not over
,” he said.
There is a final on Sunday.
I can not wait to be there."
The good news for Medvedev?
For the first time, he avoids the cumbersome shadow of Rafael Nadal or Djokovic on the other side of the net.
The bad ?
Sinner, obviously, changed dimension in the wake of his first Master 1000 title in Toronto (Canada) last summer and was able to capitalize on his two victories in three matches against Djokovic in the space of ten days in November.
Three defeats in two months
Medvedev was able to see this for himself.
Until last September, he led 6-0 in his face-to-face meetings with Sinner.
Since then, he has lost the next three, in Beijing, Vienna and the Masters.
“Quite simply, he plays better than before
,” summarizes the Russian.
There hasn't really been a tactical change.
But since he won in Canada, and especially since the end of the season, he has been playing at a whole new level.”
One statistic illustrates this: Sinner has emerged victorious in nine of his last ten matches against players in the top 10. Medvedev, only one in five.
“The work ethic, the determination, the motivation, the desire to learn, the tennis IQ, Jannik has it all,”
lists Australian Darren Cahill, former coach of Andre Agassi and Lleyton Hewitt, who joined the team surrounding Sinner in the summer of 2022.
“He has the qualities that many great champions have, but it has to translate into results. He had a good end to the season last year. What he was able to do gave him a lot of confidence
, he continues.
He had bad records against some of the best players until last year, and he was able to break down some barriers: beat Tsitsipas, beat Medvedev, beat Djokovic.
These are important victories.”
“Last season, especially the end, gave me confidence that I could potentially achieve good results in the Grand Slam
,” confirms Sinner.
Six hours apart
“You could say it's cool because it's not Novak or Rafa
(opposite)
but Jannik plays incredible tennis.
We will have to succeed in finding solutions to be able to beat him.
It’s a big challenge
,” said Gilles Cervara, Medvedev’s French coach.
The other problem for his protégé is that his Australian fortnight was grueling, unlike Sinner's.
Twice - as many times as in his entire career before - he closed a gap from two sets to zero before coming out in five sets.
Against Alexander Zverev (N.6) in the semi-finals (5-7, 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/5), 6-3), and from the second round against to the Finn Emil Ruusuvuori (53rd), 3-6, 6-7 (1/7), 6-4, 7-6 (7/1), 6-0.
He also needed five sets to dismiss Hubert Hurkacz (N.9) 7-6 (7/4), 2-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in the quarter-final.
Sinner, for his part, only let one set escape in six matches, against Djokovic.
In total, he spent almost six hours less – the equivalent of at least two matches – on the courts at Melbourne Park.
If he wins on Sunday evening, he will become the third Italian player, the fifth (women and men combined), to register his name on the list of winners of a Grand Slam tournament, after Nicola Pietrangeli (Roland-Garros 1959 and 1960) , Adriano Panatta (Roland-Garros 1976), Francesca Schiavone (Roland-Garros 2010) and Flavia Pennetta (US Open 2015).