After falling to Jannik Sinner on Sunday in Melbourne, Daniil Medvedev has lost an Australian Open final from two-sets-to-love up for the second time in three years.
The third seed, who succumbed to Rafael Nadal in a five-set epic in the 2022 title match, is the only man in the Open Era to lose two major finals from a two-set lead.
Back in 2022, Medvedev was heartbroken following his defeat, stating that he was a ‘kid that had stopped dreaming’ after the match. Medvedev went on to record 45 tour-level wins in 2022, the fewest he has had in any of his past five seasons (excluding the 2020-disrupted Covid season). Two years on and the 27-year-old was far more positive following his loss to Sinner and is determined to not let it impact his season.
“Different feeling, different circumstances, I would say. Now I’m dreaming more than ever, probably not today, but in general in life,” Medvedev said in his post-match press conference. “But I would say it’s not anymore a kid who is dreaming. It’s me myself right now, a 27-year-old who is dreaming, and who’s doing everything possible for my future and for my present. I love it. That’s why I made it to the final. I wanted to win. I was close. The scoreline is similar but I think the match would be a bit different.
“I managed to raise this level and become a different person with a different mentality. I’m really going to try to make everything possible with myself, with my mind, for this loss to not affect my future tournaments and future seasons, because that’s part of sports.”
Aiming to win his second major, the 2021 US Open champion Medvedev made a fast start on Rod Laver Arena, racing into a two-set lead. However, Sinner came roaring back to become the third Italian man to win a major.
Daniil Medvedev was pleased with how he fought despite his narrow defeat.
“I got a little tired physically, but like every other match before,” Medvedev said. “Just every other match before, my opponents didn’t manage to take advantage of it or they also became tired. Jannik didn’t really [tire]. I was trying to be proud of myself and I am. I was fighting, I was running. If tomorrow I don’t feel my legs it doesn’t matter, I’m going to try everything I can today until the last point, and I did it.”
Daniil Medvedev, who was competing in his sixth major final, played four five-set matches in Melbourne and 31 sets in total, most of any player at one major in the Open Era. The World No. 3 spent 24 hours and 17 minutes on court during the fortnight, with his second-round match against Emil Ruusuvuori finishing at 3:40 a.m. local time.
“Five-setters are tough for the body,” Medvedev said. “I would say the worst I felt was after the [Hubert] Hurkacz match, the day after, and after the [Alexander] Zverev match, the day after,” Medvedev said. “Yesterday when I was on practise, I was like, ‘Damn, how I’m going to play the final, how I’m going to move’. We really worked hard with my physio especially, he did a tremendous job so every time when I stepped on court I was ready again.
“During the match, every time it was the same story, after two sets, my energy level dropped, was dropping because I didn’t have a perfect sleep. So let’s call it my fault because I needed to win easier matches, but sometimes it’s tough. So it’s not easy for the body, but at least I feel like I have no injuries…I’m ready for the next step this season. Still a strong start.”
Medvedev usually holds a deep-court position in matches, soaking up his opponent’s hitting to great effect. On Sunday, he produced a highly attacking performance, especially in the first two sets when he hit 23 winners.
Medvedev revealed his physical condition was part of the factoring behind the change in tactic in his 10th Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Sinner.
“What made me decide it was my physical condition, I knew that I’m not going to be able to play long rallies because Jannik can, he can stay there,” Medvedev said. “If I would be 100 per cent fresh physically, maybe with my coach we could decide before the match that I’m going to get into these rallies and let’s see who is stronger physically.
“But I knew that today I’m not in this shape so I needed to make the points as short as possible. I knew there was still going to be long points but I needed to make the points as short as possible. Take his time, and it was working well. To be honest, I think it was working well until the end.”
