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Daniil Medvedev and the Australian Open have not yet found a happy ending. After the final lost in 2022 against Rafel Nadal, after leading 2-0, the Russian relived the nightmare again today, losing the final of the 2024 edition of the Australian Open against Sinner, in a similar way to what happened two years ago against Rafa.
At the press conference, the Russian champion analyzed the match, talking about the dual dreams and ambitions compared to the thoughts that crossed his mind after the 2022 final.
I gave it everything but it wasn’t enough tonight.
Congrats to @janniksin. Thank you Melbourne and look forward to seeing you next year🙏 pic.twitter.com/N0y3Xocfyw — Daniil Medvedev (@DaniilMedwed) January 28, 2024
“I have different feelings about the defeat against Rafa in 2022.
Then I said that I had stopped dreaming, now I am dreaming more than ever and not only in tennis but in life. It’s not about the child dreaming, I’m a 27 year old man who is dreaming and doing everything I can for the present and the future.
I wanted to win and I was close to winning, I don’t know how close but certainly not that far. The score is similar compared to the 2022 match, but my feelings are different.”
Medvedev then tried to explain what happened at the end of the second set against Sinner.
“What happened in the second set? Well, I didn’t think about the match against Rafa, I tried to put it behind me otherwise there would be many matches that I could lose. After two sets I almost felt like I had stopped playing, I fell back even though I didn’t make any serious mistakes.
He started to play better and was more aggressive, I was tired but I fought until the end and I can be proud because I gave everything. In some points of the fifth the adrenaline was high, I was running and fighting but he played better and my serve dropped.
This is tennis, he is the winner and has the trophy. Sinner hits very hard, perhaps he is in the Top 3 on the circuit, in fact I would say the first. In the past he wasn’t like that, then he grew up. You can lose against this Sinner, now he is almost complete, he doesn’t miss much and in fact he has won a Slam and several tournaments recently.
Tennis, however, is made up of ups and downs, otherwise everyone would have 24 Slams. Personally I hope to face a Sinner like the one in the first two sets and not the one in the last three,” he explained.
