Djokovic will be watching the Australian Open final, says Medvedev after booking Nadal clash

Melbourne: The world number two Daniil Medvedev on Friday quipped that Novak Djokovic will be watching Sunday’s Australian Open final as the Russian takes on Rafael Nadal in the summit clash.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion Spaniard is now one match away from becoming the greatest major champion in history after defeating Matteo Berrettini in the first men’s semi-final of AO 2022. In the other semi-final at Rod Laver Arena, the second seed Medvedev demonstrated a mixture of quality and grit under the lights on Rod Laver Arena, overcoming fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in a high-quality match to set up a final showdown against Nadal.

Medvedev lost his first Grand Slam final to Rafa Nadal in the 2019 US Open final before beating Djokovic in the 2021 US Open final. Notably, the Serbian was also chasing the record 21st Grand Slam in that final against Medvedev.

“I am going to play again against one of the greatest. What is funny is that I’m going to play again someone who’s going for the 21st Grand Slam. I guess last time Rafa was watching the TV, I don’t know who he was cheering for but I think Novak will be watching this one also,” Medvedev said during his on-court interview.

Medvedev showed various emotions during his semi-final victory, talking about that he said: “To be honest, I don’t think the emotions helped me to win this match. Many times in the past I have lost a match because of this. I lost too much energy. As soon as I did it, it was a big mistake. I lost some energy and I had to refocus. I tried my best and I am glad it worked.”

About his semi-final match, the Russian said: “Some matches are very even. I missed some balls at a few moments where I could have got a break and he missed a few at the start of the third set. Then from 5-4 in the third [set] I just found some momentum and started to read his serve and put every ball in. I hit some very important passing shots and his energy went down because of this and my energy went up.”

“Grand Slam finals are special and I can remember the final against Rafa at the [2019] US Open. It was my first final and we played for about five hours. We have played a few matches since then and I am ready,” the world number two added.