MELBOURNE.- Despite how difficult it was for Daniil Medvedev waste a lead and lose another final of the Australian Openthe Russian found something positive in him.
He dominated the first two sets on Sunday night against Jannik Sinner, who rallied to win his first Grand Slam title 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. Medvedev suffered a fifth defeat in his six finals at major tennis events.
“It is very difficult when you have a sports mentality to lose in the final. Hurts more. But you have to try to find positive things, it’s better than the semi-final,” said Medvedev, who set some records.
It was his fourth five-set match in the tournament, an open era record. And his total time on court, 24 hours and 17 minutes, surpassed Carlos Alcaraz’s 23:40 at the 2022 US Open.
“But at least I have a record. I’m in the history books for a reason,” he said, laughing.
The Australian Open featured 35 five-set matches, equaling the record of the 1983 US Open.
The Russian had already equaled a mark set by Pete Sampras in 1995 by reaching the final of the Australian Open after coming back from two sets down. They both lost it.
Negative record for Medvedev:
He is now the only player in the open era to have lost two Grand Slam finals with two sets ahead: the 2022 Australian Open against Rafael Nadal and in 2021 against Novak Djokovic.
Medvedev is now 0-3 in Australian Open finals.
“I don’t know how I’m going to feel in a week or a month, sometimes disappointment sets in later. I will try to maintain the mentality that I am going for the next Grand Slam. If I play the turnstiles, it is to win them,” she said.
Source: AP
