Daniil Medvedev comes back from two-sets down to defeat Alexander Zverev; sets up Sinner final match-up

Daniil Medvedev came back from the brink to defeat Alexander Zverev 5-7 3-6 7-6(4) 7-6(5) 6-3 in a thrilling Australian Open semi-final on Friday, remaining on track for his second Grand Slam title.

Former U.S. Open champion Medvedev, who suffered heartbreak at Melbourne Park in back-to-back final defeats by Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal in 2021 and 2022, will hope for third time lucky when he faces Italian youngster Jannik Sinner on Sunday.

"Very impressive," third seed Medvedev said about his opponent. "I need to recover well and be 100% on Sunday."

"We have a saying 'third time lucky'. Let's see, I can say from experience that it's not always like this but hopefully here it'll work. It would mean a lot. This court is not my best court in terms of my performance and my self-esteem."

"That's why I often have to dig deep at this tournament. I would be the happiest man on the planet but for that I have to play pretty well and win three sets on Sunday."

Russian Medvedev positioned himself well behind the baseline to counter Zverev's powerful serves and extend rallies, but he committed a series of early double faults, falling behind. He recovered from a two-break deficit to tie the game 5-5.

Zverev struck again to take the lead and raised his arms to massive applause after winning the first set with a superb backhand volley, having set up the opportunity by winning the previous point after an exhausting 51-shot rally.

"In the first set, we both played not very good, second set I played better but he played very well, I was a bit lost" said Medvedev, shortly after pointing to his head while celebrating his sixth Grand Slam final appearance.

"In the third set I just started saying to myself, 'I just want to be proud of myself, to fight to the end, fight for every point. If I lose, I lose'. I managed to win so I'm proud."

The 26-year-old Zverev came into the net more and broke for a 3-2 lead in the second set, but Medvedev did not give up, despite appearing to have run a marathon, and won the third set in a tiebreaker.

"In the third set I was tired physically and I knew I could not run for 40-point rallies anymore, so I decided to go more aggressive. Again, if it doesn't work out, I tried. It started working," Medvedev said.

"I started to make better shots than I had done before, I served better, and the tiebreaks were really unbelievable. A bit lucky at 5-5 but that's tennis."

Medvedev pushed hard in a tense fourth set, and the 27-year-old overcame a double fault in the tiebreak to level the match, before breaking in the fifth game of the decider to set up his great escape.

It was the second time he had won the tournament after falling behind in two sets.

"I've never made it this tough, but I'm happy about it because before my statistics in five sets were never that good," Medvedev added. "Physically and mentally, it's tough, five sets and before I wasn't strong enough."

Medvedev, who has frequently had tense exchanges with Melbourne Park fans, is gradually becoming a fan favourite.

"A month ago I wanted to change a little bit, to be stronger mentally, to think less about one guy in the crowd who screams something in the crowd or when you think the referee has done something wrong," Medvedev said.

"I tried to focus more ... far from perfect but I'm trying."

SportsLigue