Medvedev lost to Sinner in the Australian Open final

The winner of the men’s final of the Australian Open, which ended in Melbourne, was Jannik Sinner, who won back a two-game deficit against Daniil Medvedev. Having spent a total of 31 sets and more than 24 hours on the courts over two weeks, the Russian set a kind of record at Grand Slam tournaments. The Italian, who improved sharply at the end of last season, became the first representative of his country in almost half a century to conquer a major.

Tennis fans who were lucky enough to see this excellent final could immediately feel the moment when everything changed in it. In such cases, it is not necessary to be considered a great expert. It’s enough just to sometimes go out on the court yourself, experiencing a condition that in sports slang is called jitters. Sometimes it does not depend at all on your internal attitudes and arises as if by itself. And then, when almost everything is lost and you have practically nothing to lose, it just disappears by itself. Therefore, when debutant of Grand Slam finals Jannik Sinner, who lost the first set and was behind in the second – 1:5, sharply increased literally before our eyes, it became clear that for the heroic Daniil Medvedev, who had overcome the most difficult path to this final, everything was just beginning. And that a turning point similar to the one that Rafael Nadal made in the decisive match of the 2002 Australian Open against the Russian, who was then inferior to the Russian – 0:2 – in games, alas, is not excluded. Although both from the point of view of psychology and in terms of the content of the game, these were completely different endings.

The start of the match was promising for Medvedev. Already in the third game, Sinner did what he had only allowed himself to do twice in six previous matches at this tournament – he lost his serve. Excitement, which was explained by increased responsibility, shackled the Italian to the fullest extent. This was expressed both in the low percentage of the first serve, and in the chronic mistakes that he made every now and then, trying to increase the power of his strikes.

Medvedev’s contribution to this development of events was, of course, also great. The Russian, whom former world number one John McEnroe considers a tennis grandmaster and perhaps the most sophisticated master of tactical wrestling in the current men’s elite, not only took to the court with the utmost concentration, but also chose a tactic that was not the most typical for himself.

He received Sinner’s serve much closer to the baseline than usual and tried to play away from holding the ball, attacking sharply at the first opportunity.

That is, exactly what the Russian needed happened. His own aggressiveness was superimposed on his opponent’s uncertainty. And then there was another break, and the set ended with a score of 6:3.

This scenario was very reminiscent of the final tournament in Turin, which Sinner gave to Novak Djokovic without any options. Then the Italian also burned out before entering the court, and when the stiffness passed, it was already too late, since the match was played in three games. But here, in the five-set format, Sinner had a small margin of time, which he was able to use. He still couldn’t catch up with Medvedev in the second set, but in the third game on Rod Laver’s court it was a completely different game. As soon as Sinner improved his serve accuracy and adjusted his rhythm on the back line, Medvedev was forced to play a little more carefully. And these minimal changes were enough for the Italian to make the only break in the tenth game of the third game.

In the middle of the fourth game, Medvedev asked to bandage his right foot, worn out by constant running around the Melbourne courts, and Sinner again slightly doubted himself.

Realizing that a critical moment had arrived, the Russian tried to put the squeeze on his opponent, squeezing out the last reserves of physical energy.

The fact that this was, in fact, Medvedev’s last attack with prospects was clear to almost everyone. “Hold on, he’s tired!” — Australian Darren Cahill, Sinner’s coach, encouraged his ward from the guest box. In the seventh game, the Italian had an extremely difficult time on his serve, but on the second break point he hit his trademark ace down the line, and in the tenth game he again took the serve of an exhausted Medvedev.

After the game, the Russian did not hide the fact that he was tired. “Yesterday in training I was thinking: ‘How will I play in the final? How will I move?’ My physical therapist did a great job getting me ready again. But at the end there were moments when Yannick didn’t look as tired as my opponents had before in the fifth sets, and the balance of power changed,” Medvedev said at a press conference.

The fifth game could not be considered an empty formality. Medvedev still resisted, tried to pull out rallies of thirty or more blows, but the ruthless Italian understood that victory was already close. In the sixth game, the Russian unsuccessfully approached the net twice, received – 0:40 – and was unable to win back. Soon it was all over. Overcoming his own helplessness in the opening, Sinner won – 3:6, 3:6, 6:4, 6:4, 6:3 in 3 hours 44 minutes, winning six more points with straight shots and making eight fewer unforced errors.

This is a historic triumph for Italian tennis. After all, his two previous Grand Slam champions – Nicola Pietrangeli and Adriano Panatta – who won at Roland Garros in the middle of the last century, played, in fact, in a different era.

From the point of view of the results that Sinner showed at the end of last season, his current success is very logical.

The Italian, by the way, is 22 years and 5 months old, that is, as a great master, he is developing at approximately the same pace as Roger Federer, who won his first Wimbledon, being only six months younger.

In the manner of their playing, despite all the dissimilarity in technique, there is also something in common, but it is certainly too early to say that Sinner will have the same brilliant career as the outstanding Swiss. Federer’s talent flourished during a period of relatively low competition among the world’s elite, while Sinner, like, incidentally, Carlos Alcaraz, has to deal with two older generations at once. One of them is represented by Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, who may not have yet said his last word, and the leader of the other is Medvedev, who now has one victory in six finals at majors.

The Russian, by the way, became the first tennis player to play 31 games at one Grand Slam championship, moreover, spending more than a day on them – more precisely, 24 hours and 17 minutes. Such statistics, however, are always ambiguous. She seems to hint that if in some previous matches the Russian had been able to deal with his opponents faster, it would have been much easier in the final, but such conclusions do not take into account the nuances of each match and therefore smack of speculation. Now there are much more reasons to say that Medvedev, who at the beginning of his career was by no means distinguished by crazy endurance and had difficulty finishing five-set matches, in this case almost to the end withstood a grueling tournament marathon, at the end of which he almost beat his most dangerous opponent.

Evgeniy Fedyakov