Daniil Medvedev will draw on his 2021 US Open final defeat of Novak Djokovic as inspiration for this year’s Australian Open after losing to the Serbian superstar in Adelaide.
Djokovic was in imperious form in his straight-sets Adelaide International semi-final dispatching of Medvedev on Saturday night despite a mid-match hamstring scare.
It was his ninth victory in 13 meetings with his Russian rival, including when he won his ninth and most-recent Australian Open title two years ago.
Daniil Medvedev lost to Novak Djokovic in the Adelaide International semi-finals.Credit:Getty Images
“I felt great, really great, and that’s good for Australian Open,” Medvedev said. “But feeling that great, I [still] lost. That’s a little bit the negative, so hopefully no Novak on my side of the draw in Australian Open.
“Even if it’s not the case; I’m going to try my best and try to do better next time, like I was able to do against him before … that’s what I managed to do in US Open after Australian Open loss.”
Former world No.1 Medvedev believes his form throughout the Adelaide event was good enough to beat most top-10 players, but that Djokovic was in a “different league”.
“He’s won 20, 21 slams. That’s all what we have to say. But I need to stay positive because the first slam is coming, and I want to show my best,” he said.
“That’s why him, Rafa [Nadal], Roger [Federer] – it’s not even a shame to say that they are better because if you don’t say that, then go and win 20 slams, and then you can say this.
“That was not the case for anybody before them, even the best ones of the eras before cannot talk much that it’s a shame for us to not do the same because they didn’t manage to have the same results.”
Medvedev said the “only way” to have any success against tennis titans Djokovic and Nadal was to respect them but not consider them unbeatable.
“You have to believe in yourself. I didn’t play Rafa on clay, and I don’t like clay, so maybe it would be different, [but] probably not,” he said.
“I still go out and probably think I want to win, I can win. Every time I play them, before the match the only thought is, ‘I have to win; I have to try my best to win’.
“I managed to do it. Rafa, I think, I beat only once [from six clashes], but, still, I managed to do it. I had some tough matches against him, against Novak. Against Novak, I won a slam.
“I believe in myself, but sometimes on the court it gets tough. Sometimes you don’t manage to make the challenge. Tonight is a case. I didn’t manage to pass the test. Next time I face him; I’m going to try to do it again.”
News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
