Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev will face off on Sunday morning in the men’s Australian Open final after clearing out the field for the last two weeks.
No.1 seed Djokovic defeated qualifier Aslan Karatsev 6-3 6-4 6-2 rather easily on Thursday after rough tournament limited by injury.
Medvedev meanwhile is the form player after impressive wins against Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4 6-2 7-5 and Andrey Rublev.
The pair have faced each other once before in the round of 16 at the 2019 Australian Open, where Djokovic won 6-4 6-7 6-2 6-3.
Their head-to-head record is 4-3 Djokovic, though Medvedev won their last meeting at the ATP Tour Finals in Britain last year.
Despite Medvedev’s 20-match winning streak Djokovic will be the favourite as he has won all eight of his visits to the Aussie Open final.
Djokovic said: “This is the best I have felt the entire tournament.
“No pain, I’m thrilled to feel this way.
“But Medvedev is the guy.”
This will be Medvedev’s second Grand Slam final appearance, having lost the 2019 US Open final to Rafael Nadal, and he will be hoping to become the first Russian man to win a major since Marat Safin at the 2005 Australian Open.
Medvedev said: “I hope I will get out there and show my best tennis.
“As we have seen, I can win against the best names if I play well.
“He has more experience but more things to lose than me.”
Both players are renowned for their defence and baseline play, so long, lung-busting rallies are expected, but they make up the top two in aces for the tournament as well.
Also playing on Sunday are Putney’s Joe Salisbury and partner American Rajeev Ram in the men’s doubles final.
They will be hoping to make it back-to-back titles having won in Melbourne last year, and face ninth seed pair Ivan Dodig and Filip Polasek.
Ram has already won a mixed doubles’ title this weekend so he will be looking to double his tally.
Photo Credit Yang Yu’s Album https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/
