Medvedev battles back from two sets down to make final

MELBOURNE: Daniil Medvedev admitted he was fortunate to battle into a third Australian Open final Friday with a gritty come-from-behind five-set defeat of Alexander Zverev, who revealed he was not well.

The never-say-die Russian third seed was in a precarious position on Rod Laver Arena but fought back to win 5-7, 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 after four hours 18 minutes.

Ice-cool Italian Jannik Sinner will be awaiting him in Sunday´s title match after stunning defending champion Novak Djokovic in the other semi-final.

Medvedev has been to the final twice before, losing to Djokovic in 2021 and Rafael Nadal a year later.

It has been a long and arduous road to get back there, with the 27-year-old surviving two four-set battles and a pair of five-set matches before meeting Zverev.

But he proved once again to have the stamina, grinding down the sixth seed to keep alive his quest to collect a second Grand Slam title after winning the 2021 US Open.

He admitted he was “a little bit lost” in the opening two sets.

“But during the third set I just kept saying to myself that if I lose this match I just want to be proud of myself,” said the 27-year-old, who is into his sixth final at a major.

“I want to fight until the end, fight for every point. And I managed to win and I´m very proud.

“Sometimes you need to be lucky and today is my day.”

But it was a cutting loss for Zverev, who was bidding to make only his second Slam final. He said he had not been feeling well since his stunning upset of second seed Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals.