Djokovic vs Medevedev
The battle between Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev has everything in its favour to be a great match. Djokovic leads the head to head battle 4-3 but Medvedev won their last battle at the end of 2020 and he is coming off a 20 match winning streak! One would think that would be enough to make Medvedev the favourite for this match… but Djokovic has such an impressive record at the Australian Open with 8 titles, that it is hard to pick anyone to win against him.
Both of these players are amazing defenders as well as offensive players. They both have excellent serves. Djokovic does not have the biggest serve in the mens game, but his accuracy is incredible and when it is on, its very hard to break. Medvedev has a very big first serve and if it is on, even for someone like Djokovic it will be hard to manage. Both of these players are incredibly good at returning serve and it will be an important part of this match if they are to win.
Medvedev came into the semi finals against Tsipsipas as the favourite, but considering how well the Greek has played against Rafa, a lot of people thought that the Russian would struggle a bit more.. Medvedev had other ideas and played incredibly well. He served excellent, made most returns, hit his backhand from side to side with such conviction and disguise, and when he had a chance to attack his forehand, he played incredibly well offensively. He has already been to the US Open final in 2019… is this perhaps his time to take home his first Grand Slam Championship Trophy… or will the Joker have other ideas?
Djokovic is playing excellent Tennis as he does every year at the Australian Open. He looked to struggle with an abdominal strain in a few matches, but the last 2 matches have seen no sign of that and he is playing with complete freedom. If he wins this final he will be on 18 Grand Slam titles, just 2 away from Federer and Nadal.
These are 2 players who are pretty consistent all of the time, so it points to the fact that there are going to be a lot of long rallies. If one of them can serve really well for the whole match, that could be the factor that gets them over the line as both of them can return well and rally all day.. It could also come down to who has the best offensive game on Sunday night… It’s a hard one to pick even with Djokovic’s ridiculously impeccable record at the Australian Open. Let’s get ready for an epic match!