Australian Open: It’s all in your head: Zverev before the semi-final duel with Medvedev

Australian Open
It’s all in your head: Zverev before the semi-final duel with Medvedev

On the way to the second Grand Slam final of his career awaits Alexander Zverev the next high hurdle today.

After the outstanding performance in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open against Spanish world number two Carlos Alcaraz, the Olympic tennis champion will face his arch-rival Daniil Medvedev from Russia in the semi-finals (9.30 a.m. CET/Eurosport).

Both have already played against each other 18 times, the record is 11:7 in favor of the Russian. Last year alone there were six encounters, of which Medvedev won five. But Zverev doesn’t want to attach any importance to these numbers. “He was at his best last year, I was coming back from an injury, my self-confidence wasn’t there,” said Zverev. “And then you let a lot of things get you out. He put that to good use last year. I hope I’m a different player this year.”

Medvedev’s mind games

Medvedev is known for trying to unsettle his opponents on the court not only with his strong tennis, but also with mind games. “Medvedev will use everything to win the match,” Zverev’s brother and manager Mischa Zverev predicted in a Eurosport interview for the upcoming semi-finals. “Sascha has to stay calm and do his thing. You have to know that it will be extremely tiring, emotionally and mentally. Your nerves have to be good.”

If Zverev manages to win against Medvedev, he would be the third German in the final of the Australian Open. Boris Becker played in the finals in Melbourne in 1991 and 1996 and won both times. In 2003, Rainer Schüttler surprisingly made it to the final, but was clearly defeated by the American Andre Agassi in three sets.

Zverev has appeared in a Grand Slam final once so far. In 2020 he was already leading 2-0 sets in the final of the US Open against the Austrian Dominic Thiem, but then lost the game.

dpa