Emmanuel LANGELLIER, Media365: published on Sunday January 12, 2025 at 2:33 p.m.
Finalist in 3 of the last 4 Australian Opens, Daniil Medvedev finally hopes to win in 2025.
Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic are the main favorites for the 2025 Australian Open. Punters are surely also thinking of another player who was in the final of 3 of the last 4 editions. We are talking about Daniil Medvedev. The Russian was often placed. But never a winner. These 3 finals, the current world number 5 has in fact lost them all. He notably lost 2 of them after leading 2 sets to nothing. In 2022, in addition to his 2 sets in advance, he was very close to the break in the 3rd set, before being masterfully overthrown by Rafael Nadal at the end of a Homeric fight of 5h24 (2-6, 6- 7, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5).
-Medvedev beaten in final by Nadal and Sinner after leading 2 sets to nothing
“This battle against Rafa was a great match that has stood out in recent years. Afterwards, it remains a shame for me that I did not win it. I remember that I gave absolutely everything and played my best, but it wasn’t enough. Physically, he was very strong, and he dominated me with crazy strikes, especially in the 5th set, it was impressive,” Medvedev recalled to Le Figaro. Rebelote last year against Jannik Sinner, who subsequently became the best player of the season and in the world (3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 in favor of the Italian). “It’s very hard to lose in the final against Sinner who was playing his first. It can even hurt more than losing in the semi-final or quarter-final. But the positive point is that I managed to reach a new final,” recalls the former world number 1 who was unable to do anything in 2021 against Djokovic (7-5, 6-2, 6-2 ).
Dad for the 2nd time, the Russian did not play a preparation tournament
This year, finally, the most French of Russians (he has lived in France since 2014) intends to lift the trophy on Sunday in two weeks. He will have a hard time facing the young guns Sinner and Alcaraz who have been hurting him since 2023. Against the Italian and the Spaniard, the winning duo of the 4 Grand Slam tournaments last season, he only has 2 victories in 16 clashes (1/9 and 1/7). At 28 years old, the winner of the 2021 US Open would like to add a second major line to his list of 20 titles. “The reality is, even at my peak, I lost to Sinner. If I want to win big titles again, I have to be better against him and Alcaraz. » Arriving on Wednesday at the Antipodes, Medvedev likes Melbourne. “I often play well in Australia. I like playing hard, and I’m someone who has always responded well to weeks of work in training. It’s the only tournament we have time to prepare for and I often arrive there feeling fresh,” he says, but this year he will start the tournament without having played a preparation tournament and he has just become a father for the 2nd time, which can take some influence. However, the Russian is in a good mood and ready to go far again. “I feel great, very happy. You’re on the circuit, one day your second child is born and the next day you have to fly to Australia. But that’s okay, I’ve always said I love tennis and I love traveling. The preseason was fantastic. It was one of my best. I had a lot of time, we worked for 5 weeks. Last year I did the same thing, no tournaments. The season starts too early for me. »
