Australian Open: Medvedev and Tsitsipas - all animosity eliminated?
Daniil Medvedev and StefanosTsitsipas are not considered best friends in the tennis circuit. On Friday they meet in the semi-finals of the Australian Open 2022 (from 09:30 live on Eurosport and in Austria on ServusTV).
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Jan 27, 2022, 01:54 pm
Has the Laver Cup worked wonders again? Attentive tennis fans will remember that Stefanos Tsitsipas discovered completely new facets in his fellow players, above all Alexander Zverev, after his first participation in Geneva in 2019. And the relationship between the two Adidas brand colleagues has improved noticeably. Historically, the relationship between Tsitsipas and Zverev was almost a love story compared to that of the Greek to Daniil Medvedev.
Because Tsitsipas and Medvedev - that was a "Do Not Invite Together Couple", as the Americans like to say. In 2018 there was a verbal exchange of blows in Miami, after which the two avoided each other. Unless the draw made a meeting on the court inevitable. There have been eight of them so far, with Medvedev leading 6-2. The last meeting took place in Roland Garros last spring - well before the Laver Cup, where Tsitsipas and Medvedev may have come closer personally. At the beginning of 2021, Medvedev won against Tsitsipas in the semifinals of the Australian Open.
Tsitsipas against Sinner terrific
Animosity is not to be expected for the semi-final duel at the Australian Open 2022 tomorrow, Friday. Especially since Daniil Medvedev is still working on the audience in Melbourne, from time to time also on the tournament management, which does not start his matches according to the taste of the second in the world rankings. Stefanos Tsitsipas, on the other hand, sneaked into the semifinals almost unnoticed. Even if the man from Athens delivered a great fighting performance against Taylor Fritz and a great playful performance against Jannik Sinner.
Medvedev briefly looked into the abyss against Félix Auger-Aliassime in the quarterfinals, fended off a match point, but still came back after being 0: 2 behind in sets. And first had to figure out with himself and his body what the best recovery could look like after a match that took significantly more than four hours of play.
Nadal favorite against Berrettini
The other two semi-finalists only had to struggle with these problems to a limited extent: Rafael Nadal and Matteo Berrettini had already made it clear that they would make it into the semi-finals on Tuesday, so after their five-set wins against Denis Shapovalov and Gael Monfils they were able to go one day longer pause. Which should have suited the 35-year-old Nadal quite well. He beat Berrettini in the only match so far in the semifinals of the US Open 2019. And due to his experience in these situations, he will probably be the favorite in the encounter with the Roman.
Here is the individual tableau at the Australian Open
laver arena