The Australian Open 2024 finally concludes and 22-year-old Jannik Sinner is the new champion. After a rollicking finale that lasted for five sets, Jannik Sinner beat Daniil Medvedev after being down for the first two sets. Medvedev, who has a habit of taking the game to the fifth set, is considered a mystery by his coach Gilles Cervara. This is because the Russian player always finds a way to win in the final set.
However, today at the Rod Laver Arena, such was not the case. Medvedev played and lost in the final set and with this he created an unwanted record. Daniil Medvedev has now played more sets than anyone in a single Grand Slam in the history of the Open Era. The 27-year-old has played 31 sets in this Grand Slam i.e. the Majors.
Medvedev has now played the most sets (31) of anyone at a slam in the Open Era.#AusOpen
— Fergal (@Fergal_Tennis) January 28, 2024
There has been a lot of fuzz about how Medvedev has so very often found a way to come back into the game from a lost position. Take the match against Hubert Hurakacz in the quarter-final of this tournament. It was a see-saw battle that only decided Medvedev as the winner in the final set. Or, take the semi-final draw against Alexander Zverev, where Medvedev was down and out in the first two sets. But he managed to win the next three sets, and thereby, the match.
However, all of these records also indicate how the Russian player hasn’t always been dominating from Set 1 at the Grand Slams. While it’s the win in the end that matters, not all final sets have gone his way. Such has been the case at the Australian Open 2024 finals where Medvedev lost to Sinner in the final set. The score is 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 3-6.
Therefore, this just goes to show why Medvedev’s record of 31 Grand Slam sets might be an unwanted one. It just depicts a less-dominating scenario from the player, one where he has to struggle for every single match point. This record, as evident above, has cost him one too many times.
Daniil Medvedev just won a single match at the 2024 AO in straight sets
In the seven matches that Medvedev played this season, he won only a single match in three sets. He beat Felix Auger-Aliassime, his 2022 Australian Open quarter-final rival, in straight sets of 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 in the third round of this Majors. The rest of the matches have either gone to 4 sets or 5 sets.
Medvedev started his journey against Terence Atmane of France, where he lost the first set 7-5. He won the next two sets by 6-2, 6-4. The score in the fourth set was 1-0, before Atmane retired hurt and Medvedev advanced into the second round. He faced Emil Ruusuvuori there, where Medvedev lost the first two sets 6-3, 7-6 (7-1). In quintessential Medvedev style, he won the next three sets 6-4, 7-6 (7-1), 6-0 to advance to the third round.
After beating Auger-Aliassim there, Medvedev faced Nuno Borges of Portugal in the third round. The match too lasted four sets, before Medvedev won by 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 5-7, 6-1 and advanced into the quarter-final.
In the quarter-finals, he faced Hurkacz who gave him a run for his money. Medvedev eventually won the match by 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 and entered the semi-finals. It was a topsy-turvy match but Medvedev held his nerves and showed his class in the final set. In the semi-final, he came very close to getting knocked out by Zverev. Medvedev found a way to win in the end by 5-7, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.
In the final when the match proceeded to the fifth set, it looked like a similar story was written in the stars for Daniil Medvedev. Except, this time Medvedev had dominated from the start and Sinner was lagging. In the end, the Russian player could not replicate what he so often does and handed Sinner his maiden Grand Slam victory.
