Three of the four spots in the Australian Open singles finals are set! The last spot is up for grabs in the early hours of Friday morning, with the winner of Medvedev vs Tsitsipas advancing to the 2021 men’s Australian Open final at Melbourne Park.
Enjoy our pre-tournament and daily Australian Open picks and predictions for the men’s quarter-finals matchups at Melbourne Park!
Daniil Medvedev (4) vs Stefanos Tsitsipas (5) – From 3.30AM ET Friday @ Rod Laver Arena
Fourth seed Daniil Medvedev will take on fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the men’s second semifinal on Friday morning, with the winner advancing to the 2021 Australian Open final.
Tsitsipas continued his rollercoaster run at Melbourne Park, backing up his walkover fourth round victory with a five set thriller against second seed Rafael Nadal.
Following the opening two sets of their quarter-final match, Tsitsipas was trailing two sets to love against the 20 time Grand Slam champion, who at that point had not lost a set for the entirety of the tournament.
Stefanos Tsitsipas becomes just the third man in tennis history to defeat the great Rafael Nadal from two-sets down. Absolutely stunning performance! pic.twitter.com/sreij2eRpI
— PTV Sports (@PTVSp0rts) February 17, 2021
Tsitsipas won the third set in a tiebreak and took that momentum into the remaining two sets, going on to win the match 3-6, 2-6, 7-6, 6-4, 7-5.
Contrastingly, Daniil Medvedev has advanced to the semi’s following his fourth straight sets victory from his five matches at Melbourne Park. Medvedev held off and dominated fellow Russian Andrey Rublev in the quarter’s, winning the match 7-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Daniil Medvedev:
✅Undefeated in 2021
✅19 straight wins
✅11 consecutive against against top-10 players
✅ Will leapfrog Dominic Thiem as and be ranked number 3 in the world on Monday (#2 if he wins the #AusOpen)#AO2021 pic.twitter.com/SciBRUyB7G— Stats Insider (@StatsInsider) February 17, 2021
Prior to their encounter, Rublev had not dropped a set at the 2021 Australian Open, however Medvedev’s defensive and athletic style of play was solid enough to undo the seventh seed and see Medvedev advance to the semifinals of a Grand Slam for just the third time in his career.
This will also be Stefanos Tsitsipas’ third appearance in the semifinals of a major tournament, with the Greek currently 0-2, looking to make his debut in a Grand Slam final at Melbourne Park this weekend.
Since the first match between these two players in 2018, Medvedev has won five of the six encounters. Their match on Friday morning will likely be a fiery one, with this rivalry extending back to their encounter at the 2018 Miami Open.
That match concluded with Tsitsipas making an alleged inappropriate comment towards Medvedev following the Russian’s 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory.
Testy denouement to the Medvedev-Tsitsipas NextGen clash in Miami today: pic.twitter.com/0TBQOF0cje
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) March 22, 2018
Although he is entering this match having taken out the highest seeded scalp of the tournament so far, Tsitsipas’ aggressive and powerful style of play will play into the hands of Medvedev.
Tsitsipas won the bulk of his points against Nadal on the Spaniards second serve, winning 40% of his return points in the fourth set and 33% in the fifth set.
Medvedev however won 92% of his first serve points in the final set of his match against Rublev, as the Russian’s combination of defense, athleticism and a big service game have made him impossible to beat throughout his 19 match winning streak.
Tsitsipas’ strong forehand will see him win some points, however Medvedev has a more complete game and will target the Greek’s weaker backhand, while also asserting himself on the baseline and forcing Tsitsipas into long rallies.
If it comes to tiebreak, both players have a strong enough service game to win a set, however Medvedev’s well rounded game will see him advance to the 2021 Australian Open final.
Head to Head – Daniil Medvedev (-240)
Games Spread – Daniil Medvedev -3.5 (-130)
Sets Handicap – Daniil Medvedev -1.5 (-120)
*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of Bet365 & PointsBet.
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