Daniil Medvedev could not control himself against Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The Greek player’s father and his incessant chattering at the end of the court, which eventually earned him yet another coaching violation, became too much for Medvedev to handle, particularly when he threw away his serve. Umpire Jaume Campistol bore the brunt of his rage, although he did not deserve it.
Just a few days previously, Denis Shapovalov had fumed at Carlos Bernardes too, this time his failure to enforce the rules of time violations as Rafael Nadal took his sweet time between points and sets.
Both incidents had two things in common: an angry player shouting at an umpire and a cool, calm, collected one standing on the other side of the net watching their adversary self-destruct. Shapovalov’s anger seemed to fuel him, although he would lose another set after his rant before mounting a comeback against Nadal. It was a scorching hot day though and who knows if the physical and emotional energy the Canadian spent in that rage could have been more useful to him in the fifth set.
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Similarly, Medvedev admitted afterwards that he realised his outburst at the end of the second set on Friday could have cost him the match.
“Sometimes you can’t control it, that’s the thing about losing control,” Medvedev said afterwards.
“But against the Big Three need to be better than 100 per cent in order to win. Every match that I managed to win against them, in the slams I actually won only one I think, or another tournaments.
“I know you need to play better than you usually do to try to win. And that’s what I’m going to try to do on Sunday and usually it comes with being more patient and calm than some other matches.”
Nadal vs Medvedev
Venue: Rod Laver ArenaDate: Sunday 30 JanuaryTime: 8.30am UK timeTV: Eurosport 1 (Sky channel 410, BT 435, Virgin 521)Live stream: Online-only Discovery+ subscription sport package available for £6.99 per month; also purchasable as bolt-on to Amazon Prime Video for same price
He is right. Tsitsipas has been in Medvedev’s head before; there is no love lost between them ever since a toilet break-related spat (yes, really) in Miami four years ago.
His relationship with Nadal is a less explosive one, but there is little chance that the Spaniard will forgo his deliberate ways to make life easier for his opponent.
Nadal’s slow play is not a deliberate matchplay tactic necessarily, but it is certainly a useful one. Elongating matches in tough conditions and allowing his opponent more time to think can prove to be too much for his opponents to cope with.
The question that will be answered on Sunday though is whether those age-old tricks will work on Medvedev. He is the last grand slam champion, a match in which it was Novak Djokovic who froze under pressure and not him, and this will be his fourth final at a major. His first was also against Nadal, when he came back from two sets down but could not win a third at the US Open in 2019.
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The Russian is a far better player now – he will be just a few points short of world No 1 if he does take the title – and seems unperturbed by the idea of playing someone he held up as an idol as a child.
“When I was like eight years old, Rafa was still young but he had already won a few grand slams, and was playing a lot against Roger in all the finals and the slams,” Medvedev added.
“I was playing against the wall and I was imagining that it’s Rafa or Roger there!
“It’s really amazing to have this chance again. It’s a great experience. I managed one time to do the impossible [and beat the Big Three in a slam final]. I’m going to go for the second one on Sunday.”
Sports psychologists often talk about the difference between knowing and believing you can do something. Medvedev no longer has to believe. He has already done it.
But to do it again, he must master his own mind in the face of one of tennis’ greatest challenges – and then master his opponent.
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