With Jannik Sinner delivering the fatal blow to Novak Djokovic’s hopes of a record-extending 11th Australian Open, the lights went up on the second men’s semi-final in Melbourne. Fighting to face the giant-killer: Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev.
Alexander Zverev came into his semi-final at the Australian Open with a chip on his shoulder and a point to prove.
Bulldozing his way back into the top ten after a lengthy injury-induced absence, Zverev now came up against an old enemy: Russian world number 3 Daniil Medvedev.
In the recently aired second season of Netflix documentary-cum-propaganda exercise Break Point, Zverev cast Medvedev as the villain in his own particular story.
Railing against the Russian’s supposed psychological warfare and claiming “karma” was on his side, Zverev made clear this particular rivalry wasn’t just professional, it was personal.
Not that it’s worked out for him very well so far. 2021 US Open champion Medvedev won five of their six meetings in 2023 and led their head-to-head 11-7. Zverev, though, had triumphed against the odds against world number 2 Carlos Alcaraz in his quarter-final. He also came into this match having spent significantly less time on court.
But old demons returned to haunt the former Grand Slam finalist under the bright lights of Rod Laver Arena. The 26-year-old lost the 2020 US Open against Dominic Thiem from two sets up, with the match firmly in his hands.
He suffered the same fate here. Medvedev delivered a masterful turnaround, an exercise in how to win even when far from your best, to win a gruelling epic 5-7, 3-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(5), 6-3.
Medvedev’s serve troubled him throughout, handing over an early break with two double faults in quick succession.
No serve, no matter.
Medvedev is one of the best returners on the tour, and he’d need it against the 6’6” German. But with his serve malfunctioning, his return game suffered too, sending returns long and wide, misjudging his timing and overhitting easy shots.
Coming to the net whenever he could, Zverev played drop shots and volleys with impressive grace for such a big man. The variety in his game served him well, while Medvedev stuck with his usual unorthodox style, dragging out long rallies in the hopes that eventually he’d force an error.
It worked sometimes. Often, Zverev came up with something astonishing to win the rally anyway.
But true to form, the Russian refused to go away.
With the dogged persistence he’s become known for, Medvedev continued to chase balls around the court, skidding from side to side. But against Zverev’s combination of hard hitting and delicate play at the net, it was rarely enough.
And eventually the two five-setters the Russian played in the past eight days began to take their toll. Medvedev struggled to chase down balls and looked forlorn at Zverev toying with him, expertly controlling the rallies from the baseline and always one step, one return ahead of him.
After losing the first two sets a dejected Medvedev left the court. Understandably, given that everything he tried wasn’t working against an inspired player in the form of his life.
While Medvedev took his time returning to court, Zverev bounced around at the baseline, impatiently waiting to steamroll towards the finish.
But Medvedev has acquired an Andy Murray-like tenacity, a dogged determination to fight though the pain. At a crucial moment in the third set, he landed a return just over the net to end a 20-shot rally and leave Zverev tripping over his own feet. It gave Medvedev break point at 4-4: the first real light in the tunnel for him. Cupping his ears to the crowd, they responded with raucous appreciation for a player who may not play the prettiest tennis but whose fighting spirit is undeniable.
He didn’t get the break: Zverev found the answers and an ace dug him out of trouble, his serve firing on all cylinders. But Medvedev clung on, holding serve more confidently, playing Zverev at his own game with some sweet drop shots and net volleys. And when the third set went to a tie break, Medvedev’s greater experience at the business end of Grand Slams told.
Suddenly calmer, he claimed a minibreak for 3-1, and didn’t panic when a couple of errors let Zverev back in. The net volley – the shot that had claimed Zverev so many points throughout the match – deserted him and the German clammed up. Medvedev served out, taking the tiebreak 7-4, hanging on by the skin of his teeth.
Winning that tiebreak seemed out of the question ten minutes earlier. Even getting to a tiebreak had seemed a pipe dream. Now Medvedev attacked the match with more spring in his step, calm and composed, looking the fresher of the two.
With Zverev serving to stay in the set, Medvedev requested a replay of a close call, getting a tetchy response from the former US Open finalist – “he’s doing his show again,” Zverev grumbled. It didn’t put him off his service game, but once again the Russian dragged him to another tiebreak. He played masterfully, but a sixth double fault of the match at 4-4 meant the match was Zverev’s to lose.
Medvedev responded with a stylish shot at the net with Zverev committed the wrong way. On the following point, Medvedev produced a cheeky drop shot to return serve, to his opponent’s obvious disapproval. The six-time Grand Slam finalist closed out with an ace.
Medvedev is one of those players you count out at your own peril. Here, he threatened to spoil Zverev’s party all over again.
And spoil it he did, breaking for 3-2 as Zverev shanked a return into the net. Zverev’s booming serve kept him in it as he visibly tired, managing a straightforward hold to maintain touching distance. But now it was Medvedev’s turn to be the puppet master from the back of his court, forcing his tiring opponent to run.
Jannik Sinner’s team must have been enjoying the energy-sapping ball-bashing – if they were even still awake as the clock ticked past midnight local time. With errors strewing from Zverev’s racket, the Russian’s momentum carried him through and on match point Zverev sprayed a return wide, bouncing sadly off the tape.
Four hours and 20 minutes after coming on court, Medvedev served up a masterclass in powering through adversity to reach his third Australian Open final. “Physically and mentally, five sets is tough,” he said. “Many times in the fifth I was not strong enough. I wanted to be more strong mentally. This court is not my best court in terms of my performance and self-esteem, and that’s why many times I’ve had to dig deep.”
And dig deep he did.
“Sometimes you need to be lucky and today is my day,” he said modestly, ignoring the fact that for significant chunks of this match he was fighting for his life and somehow came out on top.
For Zverev, the search for “karma” against Medvedev goes on. But for the Russian, his third Australian Open final appearance will hopefully be “third time lucky”.
What’s the game plan?
“I need to recover well,” Medvedev shrugged, “play pretty well, and win three sets on Sunday.”
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