Naomi Osaka will face Jennifer Brady in the Australian Open final after beating Serena Williams and ending the American’s quest for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title.
Joe Salisbury, alongside American Desirae Krawczyk, beat fellow Briton Neal Skupski to reach the Australian Open mixed doubles semi-finals.
Confidence is king, and Daniil Medvedev has plenty of it.
The fourth seed is into the semi-finals of the Australian Open, where he will play fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas for a spot in the championship match. Nobody on Tour has more momentum than the inimitable Russian, whose tricky game has stymied all opponents across the net in recent months.
Entering last year’s Rolex Paris Masters, Medvedev held an 18-10 record on the 2020 season. Since then, he has won 19 consecutive matches, and is now two victories away from lifting his first Grand Slam trophy. Former World No. 1 Yevgeny Kafelnikov is not surprised.
“I always said he’s the kind of player where the more matches he plays, the better he gets. What‘s happening right now, it’s a logical thing because he played a lot of matches in the fall last year and luckily he’s won a few tournaments,” Kafelnikov said. “That gives him a lot of confidence and we all know how confidence can play a huge factor for any top-level player.”
What’s been most impressive about Medvedev’s run is that he has consistently faced some of the toughest opponents on the ATP Tour. Eleven of his 19 wins have come against Top 10 opponents. The 25-year-old captured the biggest trophy of his career at the Nitto ATP Finals — where he beat the top three players in the FedEx ATP Rankings — and led Russia to glory in the ATP Cup, where he faced the No. 1 player from opposing countries.
“Confidence is an important factor, especially at the level where a few points can make the difference,” Kafelnikov said. “That’s where the difference is for Medvedev at the moment against the top players.”
It’s not just been that Medvedev has been winning, it’s how he’s been doing so. During this stretch, the Russian has won seven of his 11 matches against Top 10 players in straight sets.
“The best feeling is when you win matches, so the more you win, the more you win in a row, the more it’s better as a feeling,” Medvedev said. “Some matches I could say, ‘I could do this better, this better.’ But for me the momentum, the confidence means a big part.
“I think you can see that once I lose it, I start to make more unforced errors and that’s where my game can be a little weaker.”
The million-dollar question: How has Medvedev found such success against the best players in the world so consistently?
“Every player at every level has at least one opponent whose style gives them fits,” former World No. 4 Brad Gilbert wrote in his book Winning Ugly.
Medvedev has been that player for all his opponents lately. The Russian blends impenetrable defence with opportunistic offence to thrive regardless of the circumstances. Players are forced to pick their poison: Attack too aggressively against someone who gets nearly ever ball back, and risk going for too much, or settle into rallies and allow the Russian to hit through the court with his flat, penetrating groundstrokes. Neither option is enticing.
Andrey Rublev led the ATP Tour with five titles last season and was 8-0 this year entering his quarter-final against Medvedev Wednesday, and yet the seventh seed was left throwing his hands up in frustration as he struggled to find solutions against his ATP Cup teammate. Rublev, like many others, was unable to solve the Medvedev puzzle.
“You need to be focussed 100 per cent every point, because as soon as you relax, then he will use this opportunity,” Rublev said. “It’s always important… to still try to bring all the balls back, because then for him, it’s also not easy. I’m not the only one who’s suffering, he’s also suffering, because in the end for him it’s tough to be always the one who needs to attack and then suddenly again to defend.”
It’s much harder than it looks, but Medvedev manages to transition seamlessly, which frustrates players even more. His next opponent, Tsitsipas, said after losing against Medvedev at the 2019 Rolex Shanghai Masters that “it’s boring” to play the Russian.
“He has a huge serve, and if you manage to get it back, it’s just countless balls inside the court,” Tsitsipas said at the time. “[All] you can do is hit as hard as you can side to side, be accurate, and make him move. Otherwise you can just play it back to him and play it again and play it again. It just keeps coming back, keeps coming back.”
Over time, however, the Greek star has come to appreciate Medvedev’s unorthodox game style.
“[I] might have said in the past that he plays boring, but I don’t really think he plays boring,” Tsitsipas said. “He just plays extremely smart and outplays you. He’s somebody I really need to be careful with and just take my chances and press. That will be very important.”
Medvedev is as confident as ever. Will anyone be able to stop him at Melbourne Park, or will he ride his tidal wave of momentum to his maiden Grand Slam trophy?
“I’m really happy that I managed to keep this momentum going so far, and it feels great,” Medvedev said. “Hopefully I can continue it for at least two matches.”
The Lawn Tennis Association is planning to stage all the major grass-court tournaments this summer, but says the cost will double due to Covid-19.
Aslan Karatsev has enjoyed a dream run at the Australian Open, where he will play eight-time champion and World No. 1 Novak Djokovic on Thursday in the semi-finals. One player who is not surprised by the Russian’s success is his quarantine practice partner: Sumit Nagal.
“I am not amazed to be honest. I knew he was playing well as I was practising with him daily,” Nagal said. “I am happy for him and I hope he even goes further.”
Nagal, like Karatsev, competed in the Australian Open main draw for the first time. The 23-year-old Indian, who is No. 144 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, was able to tell how high on confidence the Russian was from hitting with him for two weeks.
“The amount of confidence he has is very high. He has no fear and he is going for his shots no matter what, which is brave of him to do,” Nagal said. “But again, you can do that when you have the confidence [he has right now].”
Karatsev finished his 2020 season by winning 18 of his final 20 ATP Challenger Tour matches. The 27-year-old claimed two of his three Challenger titles after tennis’ resumption in August, which followed a five-month suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nagal did not know Karatsev extremely well before their two weeks on court together. In their only professional match against one another, at the Milan Challenger in June 2019, Nagal beat Karatsev 6-4, 7-6(4) to reach the semi-finals. However, Karatsev was World No. 343 at the time.
Photo Credit: Mike Frey/Tennis Photo Network
The Indian is no stranger to big stages, winning a set against Roger Federer in the first round of the 2019 US Open inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. Nagal has been impressed by how Karatsev has handled himself with all eyes on him. One thing has stood out the most.
“Him sticking to his game plan,” Nagal said. “I really like that. He has an amazing backhand and is pretty explosive.”
Nagal lost in the first round of the Australian Open against Ricardas Berankis, and he is currently en route to compete in qualifying at the Cordoba Open in Argentina, more than 10,000 kilometres away. The 23-year-old is happy for his quarantine practice partner’s success.
“Him and his team have worked very hard to get where he is,” Nagal said. “I was happy to share the court with him.”
Due to COVID-19, the 2021 edition of the Grand Prix Hassan II has been postponed from its traditional April date. Consideration will be given to rescheduling the tournament later in the year.
Last year’s event was cancelled due to the pandemic. Frenchman Benoit Paire won the most recent edition of the tournament in 2019.
The Grand Prix Hassan II was inaugurated as an ATP Challenger Tour event in 1984 and as an ATP Tour tournament in 1990. The tournament is entirely funded by Morocco’s King Mohammed VI. Marrakech, relocated from Casablanca in 2016, is the only ATP Tour stop on the African continent.
Two Moroccans have won the title in their home country: Hicham Arazi in 1997 and Younes El Aynaoui in 2002.
Rafael Nadal says the tennis season must continue and calls for the sport to “find solutions” to the issues surrounding quarantining.
In a rare turn of events, fifth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas was left speechless on Wednesday night at Rod Laver Arena.
Hours later after his epic quarter-final battle, the usually eloquent Greek player was still struggling to put into words exactly what he accomplished against Rafael Nadal inside Rod Laver Arena: Down two sets against the World No. 2, Tsitsipas rallied to take the third set in a tie break before coming back from the brink to win 3-6, 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-4, 7-5.
“I have no words to describe what has just happened on the court, my tennis speaks for itself,” said Tsitsipas in his on-court interview. “It’s an unbelievable feeling to fight at such a high level and leave it out on the court. I started very nervously. I don’t know what happened after the third set. I flew like a bird and everything worked for me.”
With the victory, Tsitsipas earned his second semi-final berth in Melbourne, and added his name to some elite company. He became only the second player after Fabio Fognini at the 2015 US Open to recover from two sets down to beat Nadal at a Grand Slam.
“The thing is that I wasn’t really thinking about a lot of things,” Tsitsipas told press afterward. “Nothing was going through my head. How would I describe myself? Nirvana. Just, like, there. Playing, not thinking.
“I was mainly focused on each single serve, each single shot. I think at the very [end of the] third set I changed [a] few things… I may have put my brain a little bit, I brainstormed and I said, ‘What is going wrong, why is it not working my way?’ But then it just took off by itself.
“I didn’t really have too much to think of. I think that’s the way I feel it. I just played more flawless… I played with no care, and that increased the level of tennis that I put out there.”
Wait. The thinker @steftsitsipas without….thoughts? ?♂️
Mark this day on the calendar ?#AusOpen | #AO2021 pic.twitter.com/JqbjA5NdW2
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) February 17, 2021
But as is the nature of tennis, Tsitsipas’ brain won’t have much time to process what would be a career-defining moment for most other players. Standing between the Greek player and a shot at a maiden Grand Slam title will be fourth seed Daniil Medvedev.
It will be a tough matchup for Tsitsipas for more than just his 1-5 win-loss record in their ATP Head2Head. Medvedev will come into their Friday semi-final relatively fresher after cooling off the red-hot Andrey Rublev 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 during the day match.
“I can see that maybe as I got the opportunity to play longer, feel the court, understand the environment that I’m in,” Tsitsipas said. “So that could probably be seen as something positive.
On the other hand, okay, I might have spent a bit more time on the court, put my body in more stress and difficult tasks to complete, but overall I feel pretty well.
“I don’t feel completely exhausted. I think with experience I have realised how to preserve my energy and when I really have to put in the hard work in the match.”
Tsitsipas also will be looking to finally get over the last-four hump and reach his first major championship match. Tsitsipas has been to the semi-finals twice, falling to Novak Djokovic at 2020 Roland Garros, and to Nadal in 2019 at Melbourne Park. Medvedev, on the other hand, will come armed with the experience of having reached the 2019 US Open final.
“Medvedev is going to be [a] difficult task,” Tsitsipas said. “I played him last year at the Nitto [ATP Finals]. It was a good match from my side. He’s in very good shape, playing good tennis, playing accurate, playing simple.
“[I] might have said in the past that he plays boring, but I don’t really think he plays boring. He just plays extremely smart and outplays you. He’s somebody I really need to be careful with and just take my chances and press.”
Greek fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas fought back from two sets down to beat Spain’s Rafael Nadal 3-6 2-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 7-5 and reach the Australian Open semi-finals.
Stefanos Tsitsipas became only the second player to recover from two sets down to beat Rafael Nadal at a Grand Slam on Wednesday, as he recorded a 3-6, 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-4, 7-5 victory at the Australian Open.
The Greek was handed a route back into the match as Nadal committed three uncharacteristic errors at the start of the third-set tie-break, and he took full advantage of his opportunity. Tsitsipas won 84 per cent of first-serve points (36/43) and struck 27 winners in the final two sets to clinch his first victory against the World No. 2 on hard courts (1-4).
“I have no words to describe what has just happened on the court, my tennis speaks for itself,” said Tsitsipas, in an on-court interview. “It’s an unbelievable feeling to fight at such a high level and leave it out on the court. I started very nervously. I don’t know what happened after the third set. I flew like a bird and everything worked for me.”
Tsitsipas joins Fabio Fognini in the exclusive club of players to beat Nadal from two sets down at a major championship. The Italian claimed a 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Nadal at the 2015 US Open.
“I focused on staying calm and holding my nerves today. I have failed to do so in some of my matches [in the past],” said Tsitsipas. “I stayed calm in the tight moments and I kept everything to myself. I am really happy with the attitude that I showed on the court.”
Tsitsipas gains revenge for his straight-sets loss to Nadal at this event in the 2019 semi-finals. The 2019 Nitto ATP Finals champion is through to his third Grand Slam semi-final, having also reached the final four at Roland Garros last year.
Nadal entered the third-set tie-break on a 35-set winning streak at Grand Slam events, but Tsitsipas halted that run with three consecutive sets to record his second win in eight ATP Head2Head meetings with the Spaniard.
Tsitsipas has survived two five-set battles en route to the semi-finals in Melbourne. The 24 year-old also needed a deciding set to overcome home favourite Thanasi Kokkinakis in the second round.
Tsitsipas will meet red-hot Russian Daniil Medvedev for a place in the championship match. Medvedev extended his winning streak to 19 matches on Wednesday, when he defeated ATP Cup teammate Andrey Rublev 7-5, 6-3, 6-2. Medvedev owns a 5-1 ATP Head2Head advantage against Tsitsipas, but it was the Greek who won the pair’s most recent encounter en route to the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals crown.
“[Medvedev] plays very well and has been very consistent, with lots of consecutive wins,” said Tsitsipas. “I need to recover and have a good ice bath. I am looking forward to the match and each match I play here is an opportunity to play my best tennis. It will be amazing to see the crowds again.”
From 0/30 down on serve at 3-3, Nadal raised his game to clinch the first set. The five-time year-end World No. 1 served his way out of danger and opened the court with multiple aggressive cross-court backhands to clinch the only break of the set.
Nadal carried his momentum into the second set, and his backhand caused his rival further problems in the opening game. The 2009 champion needed just one opportunity to break serve, as he pushed Tsitsipas into his backhand corner and changed his forehand direction to rip a winner down the line. Nadal struck winners and forced Tsitsipas into uncomfortable positions with his forehand to earn a double break at 3-1 and he soon clinched a two-set lead with a comfortable service hold.
In a third set dominated by serve, only four points were won on return. Nadal, who claimed five love service holds en route to the tie-break, committed three costly errors in the tie-break to gift Tsitsipas a route back into the match. The second seed missed two overhead attempts and fired a mid-court forehand into the net, before Tsitsipas played with aggression from the baseline to force a Nadal backhand error and a fourth set.
After ending the World No. 2’s 35-set winning streak at Grand Slam events, Tsitsipas earned his first three break points of the match in the opening stages of the fourth set. Nadal hit his targets on serve and trusted his overhead abilities to erase those chances and stay ahead in the score. Tsitsipas kept applying pressure, as he increased his forehand aggression and defended with skill to earn his first service break. Nadal committed back-to-back forehand errors to drop serve at 4-4 and Tsitsipas clinched the fourth set with a quick service hold.
In a tight deciding set, Tsitsipas held serve comfortably and rushed Nadal into four groundstroke errors at 5-5 to serve for the match. The fifth seed struggled to close the match, as Nadal fought from behind the baseline to extend rallies and extract errors. But Tsitsipas converted his third match point with a backhand winner down the line.
Nadal was aiming to capture a record 21st Grand Slam title this week. The World No. 2, who owns a 69-15 record at Melbourne Park, has fallen in the Australian Open quarter-finals in three of his past four visits to the tournament (2018, ’20-’21).
