Many paths lead to a Grand Slam final. However, Daniil Medvedev’s was particularly long.
Although his first-round opponent Terence Atmane (FRA) had to give up early in the fourth set of the first round, the 27-year-old Russian played an impressive 26 sets in his six matches. In both the second round against Emil Ruusuvuori and the semi-final against Alexander Zverev, Medvedev even made up for a 0-2 set deficit.
A whopping 1,233 minutes of play. So twenty hours and 13 minutes, the world number three was on the pitch on his way to his third final in Melbourne after 2021 and 2022.
Sinner played 349 minutes less
In comparison, his opponent in the final on Sunday, Jannik Sinner, only played 884 minutes – i.e. 5 hours and 49 minutes less. The South Tyrolean only had to accept a set loss in the semi-final against Novak Djokovic on Friday, but otherwise moved into his first major final in a confident manner.
Fitness could possibly make the difference on Sunday (from 9:30 a.m. in the LIVE ticker). But even so, Jannik Sinner is probably the slight favorite. The Italian is behind 3:6 in the head-to-head, but won the last three encounters with Medvedev – including the final at the Erste Bank Open 2023 in the Wiener Stadthalle!
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2024-01-26 17:19:19
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