It needed and epic do or die effort for third seed Daniil Medvedev to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat to beat Alexander Zverev 5-7, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-3 after four hours 18 minutes to reach his third Australian Open Final.
Medvedev lost to Djokovic in 2021 and Rafael Nadal in 2022.
It had been an arduous journey to reach Sunday’s final, with the 27-year-old surviving two four-set matches and two five-set matches before his semi final meeting with Zverev.
Surprisingly, the pair have faced each other18 times on the tour but this was the first time they have met in a Grand Slam.
Medvedev admitted after the match that he was “a little bit lost” in the opening two sets.
“But during the third set I just kept saying to myself that if I lose this match I just want to be proud of myself,”
“I want to fight until the end, fight for every point. And I managed to win and I’m very proud.”
The titanic tussle included one epic rally of 51 shots and another of 40.
It will be Medvedev’s sixth final at a major and he will face Jannik Sinner in Sunday’s Final
Today’s match recorded the 34th five-setter of the tournament, one short of the all time record.
Who would bet against the record being tied in the Final?
