Another chapter in one of tennis’ spiciest rivalries will be written when Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas battle for a spot in the Australian Open final on Friday night.
They first faced each other at the 2018 Miami Masters, when Medvedev prevailed 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 and they had to be separated by the chair umpire during a post-match altercation. There has been no love lost ever since, even though incidents have been few and far between for the most part aside from some verbal jousting in the press room. On the court Medvedev leads the head-to-head series 6-2 after a pair of 2021 Grand Slam encounters were split. The Russian rolled 6-4, 6-2, 7-5 in the Aussie Open semis before Tsitsipas capitalized on his favorite surface and gave his opponent a 6-3, 7-6(3), 7-5 clay-court lesson in the French Open quarters. Medvedev has won all four of their previous outdoor hard-court meetings.
If there is good news for Tsitsipas, it’s that roles are somewhat reversed from last year’s showdown at Melbourne Park. Heading into that semifinal, Tsitsipas was coming off a five-set struggle with Rafael Nadal while Medvedev had been thrashing his opponents. This time around, Tsitsipas crushed Jannik Sinner 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in the quarters before Medvedev survived the match of the tournament–saving a match point and overcoming Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-7(4), 3-6, 7-6(2), 7-5, 6-4 in four hours and 42 minutes.
Fortunately for Medvedev, he is one of the fittest guys on tour. The world No. 2 had also dropped just two total sets prior to the quarters, so energy conservation earlier in the tournament should help the recovery process.
Tsitsipas’ success Down Under is far more surprising. An elbow injury at the end of 2021 that forced him out of the Nitto ATP Finals continued to plague him at this month’s ATP Cup. The 23-year-old Greek was in doubt to even play the Aussie Open, but he managed to get ready for it and so far the rest is history. Tsitsipas preceded his rout of Sinner with victories over Mikael Ymer, Sebastian Baez, Benoit Paire, and Taylor Fritz. Only the Ymer match was routine, and Fritz had him on the ropes in a five-setter on Monday.
This should be a fun one, but based on current form it is Medvedev who remains the more reliable player–even though he just endured that thriller against Auger-Aliassime. The second seed showed incredible mental fortitude in the pressure-packed moments on Wednesday and that could also be the difference against Tsitsipas.
Pick: Medvedev in 4
WWW?
Hoping Tsitsipas wins. Rafa might find him easier in the finals maybe?
In any case bring on a gruelling 5 setter. 😝
When Medvedev was killing everyone in 2019 leading up to the Canadian Open, everyone thought he would wipe Rafa off the court in the final and Rafa beat him 63 60.
Medvedev is better now than he was then. His serve is better, backhand is better and his forehand is better. He’s also better at making clutch shots such as those couple of passing shots against Tsitsipas.
Nadal is about 85-90% of the player he was then. Not a huge amount but enough to turn the tables. Nadal has performed better on US hardcourts, as well.