Athletistic/Tennis. Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev failed to win the Australian Open. In the final, the Moscow native was defeated by Jannik Sinner.

The match turned out to be very tense. The tennis players played five sets. As a result, Medvedev lost to the Italian with a score of 6:3, 6:3, 4:6, 4:6, 3:6.

After the match, Medvedev said he was proud of himself, despite the defeat. According to the tennis player, he always strives to win, it just wasn’t his night.

“Thank you everyone. I felt a lot of support from friends, family and fans around the world. An incredible two weeks. It always hurts to lose a final, but it’s probably better to lose in the final than before. I always want to win. Losing is difficult, but I am proud of myself and I will try even harder next time.

I wanted to win, I was close. Was I really close or not? It’s hard to say, but I wasn’t far away. The score is similar, but the match is a little different.

I didn’t think much about the match with Rafa, I tried to put it behind me, so it’s not about him. Otherwise, there will be a lot of matches this season that I will lose. Today I didn’t feel like when I was 2:0 in the sets, I suddenly stopped playing, let’s say, went behind the back line and started making candles. I didn’t make any bad mistakes. He just played better, a little differently tactically, because at the start of the match I offered him something new, aggressive.

I was a little physically tired, but in previous matches the opponents either couldn’t take advantage or they were tired themselves. And Yannick – not so much. In the fifth set, like in all the other matches, I tried to play in a way that made me proud of myself. And I’m proud. I fought, I ran. I thought: that wasn’t the case, what difference does it make if my legs are taken off tomorrow? Today I tried to do my best until the end. And did.

At the end, there were rallies during which he didn’t seem as tired as my previous opponents. He started playing better and I was slowly losing strength. The service started to deteriorate a bit. The match changed and I tried to change it again because that’s tennis. But he couldn’t, so today he has the trophy.

Five-set workouts are hard on the body. It’s crazy, but the worst I felt was the day after the Hurkac match and the day after the Zverev match. Yesterday, during training, I said to myself: damn, how should I play the final, how should I move? We worked very well with the physio. He always does an amazing job making sure I’m always ready when I step on the field. During the match, it’s the same thing every time: after two sets, the strength starts to go away. I didn’t sleep well, I had been playing for a long time before that. Let’s call it my mistake, because I should have had easier victories, but sometimes it’s hard. So it’s not easy on the body, but at least it seems to be injury-free. Calluses – unfortunately, yes, although I rarely get them. But what difference does it make, they will still pass. I’m ready for the next step this season. It’s still a good start (smiles).

Every match is different. With Ruusuvuori it was pretty much the same as today. Of course, it’s better to be like Yannick – to lose a set before the final – but sometimes you have no choice,” Medvedev said after the match.

Medvedev will receive $1.1 million for his performance at AO-2024. Note that the Russian suffered his third defeat in the final of the Australian Open (2021, 2022).

Andrey Andreev, Sport.Ru


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