What drama after a nerve-wracking match against the feared opponent! Alexander Zverev missed his first entry into the final in Melbourne at the Australian Open after a five-set thriller.
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The German tennis star lost his semi-final against his arch-rival Daniil Medvedev from Russia after a rollercoaster of emotions and well over four hours of play with 7:5, 6:3, 6:7, 6:7 and 3:6 and thus missed the mark final tournament duel on Sunday with Jannik Sinner. The South Tyrolean had previously eliminated record champion Novak Djokovic.
“It is extremely frustrating. But above all because I didn’t feel 100 percent good,” said Olympic champion Zverev after his dream of winning his first Grand Slam title in Melbourne was dramatically dashed. The Hamburg native said he had developed a feverish cold overnight, which is why he ran out of energy in the thriller against Daniil Medvedev.
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“I lost my energy at the end of the second set and no longer felt fresh,” said Zverev after the bitter defeat against feared opponent Medvedev. A tennis thriller in which Zverev was only two points away from reaching his first final at the Australian Open in the fourth set.
Zverev “proud” despite defeat
For Zverev it was one of the most painful defeats of his career. “But I can also be proud of myself, I did everything I could,” said Zverev, who had particularly impressed during the tournament, especially in the quarter-finals against Carlos Alcaraz: “I’m sure that if I do the right things, I will get another chance like this.”
His opponent Medvedev, who will face the Italian Jannik Sinner in the final on Sunday, had a good laugh. “I was a little lost at the beginning, but in the third set I told myself I wanted to at least be proud of myself. And I won and am very proud now,” said Medvedev, who scored his first match point after 4:18 hours: “The two tiebreaks were incredible. I was a bit lucky there too.”
Boris Becker, as a Eurosport expert, had meanwhile asked: “Daniil is a fighter before the Lord. How can Zverev cope with this disappointment, where do the strength and morale for the fifth set come from?”
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And added: “I’m a little disappointed. It started so well for Sascha. Overall, there were too many unforced errors, especially at the end. “They cost him the match,” said Becker, referring to 21 unforced errors in the fifth set.
Australian Open: Zverev misses final
Zverev initially seemed a bit better in all respects than his opponent Medvedev, who had already been in the final twice before.
In the first round, the Hamburg player quickly pulled away with 4:1, only briefly wobbling to 5:5 before winning the set after 70 minutes.
After that, Zverev got more and more rolling, acted very powerfully and made his mark, especially at the net.
However, the 26-year-old, who had confidently defeated Carlos Alcaraz (6:1, 6:3, 6:7, 6:4) in the quarter-finals, then had to accept a first setback in the tiebreak of the third set because Medvedev immediately won the first of his used two set balls.
Bankruptcy after thriller against Medvedev
After that, the encounter turned into a real crime thriller: Zverev didn’t let himself be deterred, continued to act confidently – but so did his opponent, so that this sentence also became a very close affair.
Because both players didn’t allow a break, there was another tiebreak – with the better end for Medvedev, who had more moments of surprise on his side.
The decisive factor for Zverev’s exit was an excessive error rate in the decisive fifth round and an early break by Medvedev to make it 3-2, who converted his first match point.
“I was a little lost at the beginning, but in the third set I told myself I wanted to at least be proud of myself. And I won and I’m very proud now,” Medvedev said afterwards: “The two tiebreaks were incredible. I was a bit lucky there too.”
Bitter: Zverev has now lost six of the last seven duels against the Russian third in the world rankings. Zverev wanted to reach a Grand Slam final at the US Open for the second time since 2020, when he lost to Austrian Dominic Thiem in five sets – also after leading 2-0.
With Sport Information Service (SID)