Medvedev dominates Tsitsipas to enter Australian Open final, sets Nadal showdown


Australian Open: Medvedev dominates Tsitsipas to enter Australian Open final, sets Nadal showdown

The world number two Daniil Medvedev on Friday yet again delivered under pressure as he defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas to return to the Australian Open final.

The second seed 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 Rafael Nadal.

The Russian, who reached the championship match in Melbourne last year (l. to Djokovic), targeted the Greek’s backhand from the baseline with his flat and powerful groundstrokes throughout.

Medvedev hit 39 winners and broke four times to advance after two hours and 34 minutes.

Tsitsipas was aiming to reach the final in Melbourne for the first time, having fallen at the semi-final stage in 2019 and 2021. The Greek, whose best result at a major was a run to the championship match at Roland Garros last year.

Earlier in the day, the 20-time Grand Slam champion Nadal came one step closer to becoming the greatest major champion in history after defeating Matteo Berrettini 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in the AO semi-final.