Daniel Medvedev is once again “only” one game away from winning his first Grand Slam title. The world number 4 qualified today (Friday) for the Australian Open final, after beating Stefanos Cicifas (6th in the world) 4: 6, 2: 6, 5: 7 in just over two hours of tennis. Medvedev, for whom this will be his second career appearance in the Grand Slam final, will meet Novak Djokovic this coming Sunday in a battle for the title.
With the exception of a short period of time in the third set, during which Tsitsipas won three games in a row and turned a 3: 1 deficit into 3: 4 in his favor, Medvedev was in complete control of this semifinal. The numbers back this up: the Russian recorded 17 aces and 46 winners in total compared to 3 and 19 by his rival from Greece, who defeated Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals after an amazing turnaround, but looked at a loss against Medvedev.
Now, as mentioned, Medvedev has one more hurdle waiting – a particularly high one: he will meet Novak Djokovic, the Australian champion eight times in the past on Sunday; The all-time balance between the two stands at 3: 4 to the No. 1 ranking in the world, but in three of the last four encounters the Russian has come out with his hand on the top. Medvedev will reach the battle with tremendous momentum that includes 20 consecutive victories, 12 of them against 8 different players in the top 10 of the world.
If Medvedev succeeds in the challenge, he will of course put first and foremost a first major trophy into the private closet. Moreover, the senior Russian will qualify for second place in the world, at the expense of Rafael Nadal. And notice this: if he does qualify for second place in the world, it will be the first time since July 2005 (!) That in the top 2 will be a player who does not meet one of the following names: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray . The change of shifts in world tennis is already here?
Russian @DaniilMedwed reaches 2nd Grand Slam final with 3-set win over Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Medvedev is on 20-match win streak (12 vs 8 different Top-10 players).
If Medvedev wins #AusOpen, he will rise to No. 2 in @FedEx ATP Rankings (1st Non-Big 4 in Top 2 since 24 July 2005).
– ATP Media Info (@ATPMediaInfo) February 19, 2021
