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Australian Open: Not me, Djokovic has 'more things to lose' in final – Daniil Medvedev begins mind games ahead of fin
Australian Open: Not me, Djokovic has ‘more things to lose’ in final – Daniil Medvedev begins mind games ahead of final
Fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev, who is set to take on defending champion Novak Djokovic at the 2021 Australian Open final, believes the pressure will be on Djokovic as the eight-time winner has never lost a final in Melbourne.
Fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev, who is set to take on defending champion Novak Djokovic at the 2021 Australian Open final, believes the pressure will be on Djokovic as the eight-time winner has never lost a final in Melbourne.
The Australian Open final will be Medvedev's second Grand Slam final after the 2019 US Open final, which he had lost to Rafael Nadal. The 25-year-old Russian is ready for the big game against the World No. 1 Djokovic and has already started with mind games ahead of the grand finale on Sunday.
Medvedev thrashed Stefanos Tsitsipas, who was coming off a superb win over Nadal in the semi-final. After going two sets down in the quarter-final, the Greek made an unbelievable come back in the game to knock Nadal out of the competition, who was aiming to win a record-breaking 21st major title. After inflicting one of the major upsets at the Rod Laver Arsenal in this edition, Tsitsipas went down in straight sets against Medvedev in the last-four round.
"First of all, I like that I don't have a lot of pressure because he never lost in eight times he was here in the finals. It's he who has all the pressure, you know, getting to Roger, Rafa and the Grand Slams (record). So, I just hope that I'm going to get out there, show my best tennis. As we see, I can win (against) some big names if I play good. That's the main part. (Djokovic) has, for sure, more experience but more things to lose as well," Medvedev said in an on-court interview after his semifinal win on Friday.
Despite losing the semi-final, the fifth seed Tsitsipas hailed Medvedev, saying the Russian has "unlocked pretty much everything in the game," in a post-match interview.
"[Medvedev] is a player who has unlocked pretty much everything in the game. It's like he's reading the game really well. He has this amazing serve which I would describe close to John Isner's serve. And then he has an amazing baseline [skill] which makes it extremely difficult.
Even if you return the serve, you don't guarantee that you're going to win the point. You have to really work hard for it… He makes it very difficult, and I'm sure all the hard work that he has been putting [in] and the hours on the court have benefited [him] a lot. He tricks you. He plays the game really smart. It's really interesting to see that," Tsitsipas was quoted by ATP's official website, as saying in an interview on Friday.
While Medvedev will be aiming to lift his maiden Grand Slam trophy, Djokovic is looking to clinch his 18th and reduce the deficit between him and the 20-time winners, Nadal and Roger Federer.
