But Medvedev is known as a player who never gives up. The 2021 US Open winner moved his return position further forward as the game progressed and then came into the game better in the third set. “I was a bit lost after the second set and also tired. That’s why I had to play a little more aggressively,” Medvedev said. Zverev was no longer able to play as close to the lines as before.
And his opponent suddenly seemed to be everywhere: left, right, front and back – no matter which part of the court Zverev was playing, Medvedev was there. This can be grueling. On the tour they sometimes refer to the Russian as an octopus because it sometimes seems as if he has eight arms with which he can reach the balls that no one else can. Medvedev only won the tiebreak in set three because he was more active and Zverev hit a simple forehand into the net when the score was 4:5.
In the tiebreak in set four, when the score was 5:5, he unintentionally hit a stop ball with the return that was out of reach for Zverev. By then the tentacle man seemed to have a tighter grip on his opponent. “I’ve been playing really well for a few months. It’s frustrating that I wasn’t 100 percent fit, but hopefully it won’t be my last chance,” said Zverev.
Medvedev will now face Jannik Sinner in the final, who defeated Novak Djokovic 6:1, 6:2, 6:7 (6:8), 6:3. For a long time it was a puzzling performance from the Serb, who played anything but well in the first two sets. But also a demonstration of Sinner’s strength, who didn’t let anything deter him.
Even after Djokovic won the third set and Sinner had already missed a match point, there was no sign of nervousness on the part of the Italian. In a direct comparison, Medvedev leads 6:3 against Sinner. But the Italian has won all of the last three games. Sinner has developed enormously since he lost to Zverev at the US Open last year and hardly shows any weaknesses.
And what remains of this tournament for Zverev? In any case, the realization that after his serious injury at the French Open 2022 he is once again playing on an equal footing with the best players in the world. That was shown by the win against Carlos Alcaraz, but also the game against Medvedev. Zverev showed weaknesses especially in the first week, where he left a lot of strength against nominally weaker opponents. Still, he kept coming.
This gives hope for the next highlight of the year, when Zverev will probably be even more concerned with another topic. International media also reported in detail from Melbourne about his upcoming court hearing and the penalty order that the Tiergarten district court imposed in October 2023.
Zverev is to pay a fine of 450,000 euros (90 daily rates of 5,000 euros each) for bodily harm because he is said to have attacked a former partner in a dispute. He rejects the allegations. He is taking legal action against the penalty order.
The matter was still a major issue for several days. Numerous players were asked whether it was appropriate that Zverev was elected to the ATP Players Council by his colleagues. Most people didn’t want to talk about it and avoided it.
But there was also occasional criticism. “It is certainly not good when a player who is faced with such allegations is promoted, so to speak,” said world number one Iga Swiatek. The date for the trial is in May, when the French Open is underway. Zverev doesn’t have to appear in person, but he can be sure: it won’t just be about how he plays tennis in Paris.
‘,e.appendChild(e.resizeSensor),e.resizeSensor.offsetParent!==e&&(e.style.position=”relative”);var r,s,d,a,l=e.resizeSensor.childNodes[0],c=l.childNodes[0],u=e.resizeSensor.childNodes[1],h=e.offsetWidth,f=e.offsetHeight,m=function(){c.style.width=”100000px”,c.style.height=”100000px”,l.scrollLeft=1e5,l.scrollTop=1e5,u.scrollLeft=1e5,u.scrollTop=1e5};m();var p=function(){s=0,r&&(h=d,f=a,e.resizedAttached&&e.resizedAttached.call())},v=function(){d=e.offsetWidth,a=e.offsetHeight,(r=d!=h||a!=f)&&!s&&(s=t(p)),m()},y=function(e,t,n){e.attachEvent?e.attachEvent(“on”+t,n):e.addEventListener(t,n)};y(l,”scroll”,v),y(u,”scroll”,v)}}(e,o)}),this.detach=function(e){n.detach(i,e)}};return n.detach=function(t,n){e(t,function(e){e&&(e.resizedAttached&&”function”==typeof n&&(e.resizedAttached.remove(n),e.resizedAttached.length())||e.resizeSensor&&(e.contains(e.resizeSensor)&&e.removeChild(e.resizeSensor),delete e.resizeSensor,delete e.resizedAttached))})},n}),function(e,t){“function”==typeof define&&define.amd?define([“./ResizeSensor.js”],t):”object”==typeof exports?module.exports=t(require(“./ResizeSensor.js”)):(e.ElementQueries=t(e.ResizeSensor),e.ElementQueries.listen())}(“undefined”!=typeof window?window:this,function(e){var t=function(){function n(e){e||(e=document.documentElement);var t=window.getComputedStyle(e,null).fontSize;return parseFloat