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Daniil Medvedev sets up Australian Open final showdown with Rafael Nadal

Daniil Medvedev sets up Australian Open final showdown with Rafael Nadal
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Daniil Medvedev advances to the Australian Open final after sinking Stefanos Tsitsipas in four sets during a fiery semi-final on Friday.

A fired-up Daniil Medvedev got the better of Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 6-4 6-1 to set up an Australian Open final showdown with Rafael Nadal.

The world number two failed to capitalise on three break points in the opening set but ultimately took the first set following a tense tie-break.

Tsitsipas broke Medvedev's serve early in the second set to race into a 2-0 lead and eventually level proceedings at one set each, as the US Open champion launched a scathing attack on the umpire over suggestions that the Greek was being coached by his father in the crowd.

Medvedev witnessed Tsitsipas pick up a couple of court warnings before taking the third set and producing a dominant showing in the fourth, confidently serving for the match to advance to another Grand Slam final.

Reflecting on his outburst during his on-court interview: "To be honest I don't think bad emotions help me too much, so as soon I've done it I thought 'That was a big mistake' so I'm happy I could re-concentrate for the fourth set.

"A few moments I missed some balls where I could have gotten the break, and he missed a few, but I read his eyes and tried to read his serve. His energy was going down and mine was all the way up.

"When I went out from the match with Felix [Auger-Aliassime] I asked my coach 'How do I do this again in two days?' I tried to do the recovery well and woke up the next day and thought 'It's not too bad!'.

"I was more tired than usual, so mistakes can happen, especially on the backhand. I'm going to play against someone going for the 21st Slam again, I think Novak [Djokovic] will be watching this one!"

Medvedev will go in search of his second Grand Slam title against Nadal, who also took four sets to sink Matteo Berrettini earlier on Friday.

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Written by
Ben Knapton

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