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Daniil Medvedev admits that he's a spent force after a taxing fortnight at the 2024 Australian Open, culminating with a five-set defeat in the final to Jannik Sinner on Sunday.
After having spent over 20 hours of court time en route to his third final at Melbourne Park, former World No. 1 was in command against Sinner, taking a two-set lead.
However, as the far-less fatigued Italian began to find his rhythm and range, Medvedev lost his, as a decider ensued. Playing his fourth five-set match of the fortnight, the Russian fought gamely but couldn't stop the Sinner juggernaut.
Following a break of serve in the eighth game of the fifth set, Sinner served out victory to become the first Italian man to win the Australian Open. In his post-match press conference, Medvedev said that he was dead tired from the amount of hours he played over the two weeks.
"Tomorrow, I'm not ready to do anything. I'm taking a flight tomorrow. The way I'm feeling right now, I think I'm going to be, after the flight, I'm going to be dead for a week," he said (via Tennis.com).
Admitting that five-setters aren't easy on the body, Medvedev joked about his record 24 hours on the court this fortnight, saying:
"Five-setters are tough for the body. We really worked hard with my physio especially. He made a tremendous job to every time when I stepped on court I was ready again."
"But at least I got a record in something. I'm in the history books for something. Let's take it."
Dannil Medvedev is the first player in the Open Era to lose multiple Grand Slam finals from two sets up (first being the 2022 Australian Open final against Rafael Nadal).
"It's an unbelievable feeling" - Jannik Sinner after beating Daniil Medvedev in Australian Open final
Jannik Sinner enjoyed a near-perfect run to his first Grand Slam final, with his only dropped set coming against 10-time champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinal.
However, the Italian seemed to have met his match in Daniil Medvedev, who showed none of the exhaustion of playing 26 sets to reach the final. Sinner, though, impressively regrouped, taking the last three sets to make his Major breakthrough.
"I am very proud," Sinner said (as per ATP). "It was a very tough match. He started off really well, he moved me around the court. I could not make my game plan work, but somehow in the third set, I was looking for the small chances, which I used."
"The match changed, and I am really happy with how I corrected it. There are so many emotions right now. I have to sit down and process it, but (it's) an unbeliveable feeling."
With the Australian Open final loss, Daniil Medvedev squandered a chance to return to the World No. 1 ranking. He slumped to 1-5 in Grand Slam finals.
