Ebene News – AU – Daniil Medvedev dominates Stefanos Tsitsipas to advance to Australian Open final

Fourth seed Daniil Medvedev will face eight-time winner Novak Djokovic in the men’s Australian Open final after advancing safely from the last four

Medvedev dominated Greece’s fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second semi, winning 6-4, 6-2, 7-5 in two hours and nine minutes at Rod Laver Arena

He is the third Russian to reach the men’s final at Melbourne Park and the first since Marat Safin lifted the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup in 2005

Sunday night’s clash with Djokovic will also be his second appearance in the final of a major He lost the 2019 US Open decider to Rafael Nadal in five sets

Medvedev said he would benefit from the experience of facing Nadal in the final in New York two years ago

“It was my first Grand Slam [of the tournament] final against one of the greats,” he said in his field interview.

“Sunday I am going to face one of the other greats… we will know on Sunday and will not know until the game what will happen”

Friday night’s result gave Medvedev 12 straight wins over the top 10 opponents and it was his 20th overall in tour level matches

His serve was exceptional against Tsitsipas, beating 17 aces and conceding just two double faults He only gave up the serve once for the match and only faced three break points

Tsitsipas, appearing 48 hours after his thrilling five-set loss to Rafael Nadal, caught up with Medvedev midway through the first set, but could still be proud of his efforts in his second Open semi-final. Australia

Considering the spectator limit, Friday night’s fixture always attracted a healthy crowd and it was clear when the players stepped out onto the pitch that Tsitsipas would have the lion’s share of support

Greek flags were visible throughout the stadium, but Medvedev did not seem embarrassed by the crowd’s allegiance to Tsitsipas as he gained the upper hand early in the proceedings

He didn’t face a break point in the first set, while Tsitsipas lost his serve in game five

Tstsipas had his moments, however, as a clean forehand to the line in Game 7 that drew huge cheers from the crowd.

The only time Medvedev seemed nervous was when he served at 5-4 and blew up three set points, the third with a double fault

Tsitsipas struggled to put a glove on Medvedev and it was evident in his first two service matches in the second set

He was tied before holding in the opener, but gave up his serve for the second time in the game to lead 1-2, with Medvedev freezing the break with a net winner from the forehand

The forehand had been a weapon of choice for Medvedev and a dazzling return of serve to his right wing – albeit with the help of a drawstring – gave him another break of serve and a lead from 5-2

A stylish backhand return in crosscourt as Tstispas approached the net in the opener of the third set was another addition to his reel of highlights

Tsitsipas ended up giving up his serve to hang out 0-1 but refused to give up and made his way through the set when he won his first break from Medvedev’s serve

Tsitsipas hoped for another break when Medvedev lost 0-30 in Game 10

Medvedev, however, managed to get out of trouble and then beat Tsitsipas in the next game, with a jaw-dropping backhand kick down the line, taking a 6-5 lead.

He only needed one match point on his serve to complete the Tsitsipas tournament and reserve his place in the final

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Stefanos Tsitsipas, Australian Open, Rafael Nadal, Daniil Medvedev, Tennis, Novak Djokovic