Daniil Medvedev has highlighted three reasons why Jannik Sinner beat him in the 2024 Australian Open final, but the Russian is keen to learn from the experience.
Sinner won his maiden Grand Slam title at Melbourne Park in January as he came back from two sets down to defeat Medvedev 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 in a marathon match.
The two finalists had contrasting runs to the showpiece encounter with Medvedev spending 20 hours and 33 minutes on court before the final compared to Sinner’s 14 hours and 44 minutes.
And the match itself lasted three hours and 44 minutes to take Medvedev past a full day with his 24 hours and 17 minutes a new Open Era milestone for most time spent on court at a singles major while he also set a new record for most sets at a Grand Slam with 31.
After a fast start in the final as he found himself two sets to love up, the fatigue caught up with Medvedev as he fell away and the former world No 1 admitted Sinner was fresher and handled the occasion very well as he didn’t get too tired.
Medvedev also believes the small tactical tweaks the Italian made during the match played a role in his surge at the end.
“I look back on it with experience, on the whole tournament,” the world No 4 told Eurosport. “On the final, to be honest – and I talked to all my team and we discussed it really well – not much I have to say.
“Good comeback from Jannik, tactically he changed just small things here and there. He managed to, let’s say, get me off the floor.
“The guys I played before physically they got tired, and I could use it. Jannik didn’t really get tired, didn’t really get too tight.
“So congrats to him, unfortunately for me. But I think, first of all, I’m able to do crazy things with the amount of hours I played on the court and to win crazy matches.”
Medvedev, though, plans to put his 2024 Australian Open final experience to good use in future.
And the one way he hopes to keep himself fresh for big matches is to “make matches faster”.
He added: “But an experience for next time that maybe I can try to change my game here and there to try to make the matches faster, make the points faster.
“And if I manage to be in the final [again], arrive there fresher.”