Nail real battle This is what happened at Melbourne Park. It’s just that after the unexpected but not so surprising victory of Jannik Sinner (4th ATP) over the current monarch Novak Djokovic (he beat him in three of their last four meetings), the semi-final between the Russian Daniil Medvedev (3rd ATP) and the German Alexander Zverev (6th ATP) it was quite a spectacle for the public present, with a match which It lasted almost four and a half hours.

The German produced one of his best performances in the Australian Open since not only did he manage to repeat the semi-final achieved during the 2020 edition, but he He has just eliminated one of the big favorites both from the competition and the public, the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz (2nd ATP) in four sets.

For his part, Medvedev He arrived looking for his second Australian major final after beating the Pole Hubert Hurkacz (9th ATP) in an exhausting but entertaining match which lasted almost four hours. So if there was anyone who arrived physically disabled, it was the Russian.

The first set was very balanced, since both managed to break their rival’s serve. But the German was more energetic in this regard and He managed to win the set 5-7 in almost an hour. Already in the second round, the Russian’s accumulated fatigue began to be felt with unforced errors in key moments that were exploited by Zverev, who did not hesitate at any time and won the set by a resounding 3-6.

The third quarter was something else. Even though everything indicated that it would be the final set with the strength demonstrated by “Sascha”, it was ultimately quite the opposite. Zverev continued without giving up his serve and the Russian raised his level to the point that a tie-break was necessary which was almost entirely dominated by Medvedev, closing the set with a 7-4 tiebreaker.

The process of the fourth set was almost the same, neither dropped their serve and they went to the tie-break again. We could say that it is It was the beginning of the end for the Germans , as he led 4-5 with two aces in favor to win the match. However, the nerves shown in the third set against Alcaraz were present again and he lost both. “Octopus” therefore performed his next serve, thus extending the match until the fifth and final set.

With Alexander Zverev already completely mentally knocked out of the match, the final round was start to finish for Medvedev, as It took him two breaks and less than 40 minutes to secure and reach his second final at Melbourne Park.

With the finalists already defined, we will witness an unprecedented scenario for the Australian Open, since For the first time since 2014, there will be a champion who is not part of the “big three”. On this occasion the champion was the Swiss Stan ‘The Man’ Wawrinka who beat Rafael Nadal in sets of 3-6, 2-6, 6-3 and 3-6.

At 22 years, Jannik sinner becomes one of the main faces of the new generation of world tennis. Because reached his first Australian major final, losing just one set so far in the tournament and having beaten none other than defending champion Novak Djokovic. With this result, The Serbian went 33 matches unbeaten on the hard court in Melbourne, quite an achievement for the Italian.

Although it is true that They have beaten “Nole” in three of their last four matches the feeling is very different when you do it in a five-set match and especially when it is a semi-final of the first Grand Slam of the year, the Serbian’s most successful pitch in his career.

On another side, Daniel Medvedev comes looking for him second Grand Slam title after winning the 2021 US Open by beating Novak Djokovic. Even though the Russian has been one of the most consistent tennis players in recent years with 20 ATP titles in his showcase and having reached first place in the world rankings in 2022 , the truth is that this has not been reflected in the GS titles, so this presents a very good opportunity. Of course he will do it against one of the most in-form tennis players on the tour and who obviously comes with Much less physical wear and tear.

The final is scheduled to take place at Melbourne Park next Sunday, January 28, at a time to be determined.