Medvedev, Daniil (1996- )

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      Australian Open 2021: Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev Meet for the Title

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Australian OpenOsaka Wins TitleMen’s Final PreviewDjokovic’s RideWilliams’s Future?AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyAustralian Open 2021: Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev Meet for the TitleDjokovic, aiming for his ninth title in the tournament, should face a strong challenge from Medvedev.Novak Djokovic in his semifinal victory over Aslan Karatsev.Credit…Dave Hunt/EPA, via ShutterstockFeb. 20, 2021, 7:08 a.m. ETHow to watch: The match is at 3:30 a.m. Eastern time on Sunday on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+. There will be encore showings at 8 a.m. and 11 p.m. on ESPN2.The men’s singles final that will wrap up this year’s Australian Open is a battle between the standard-bearer Novak Djokovic and the worthiest challenger the field could have mustered, the surging Daniil Medvedev. Here’s what to watch for as the two face off:Medvedev is on a roll.Medvedev, 25, has put together a remarkable run in the past few months, reeling off a 20-match win streak that includes titles at the Paris Masters, the ATP Finals in London, and the ATP Cup in Melbourne. Twelve of those 20 wins came against top-10 opponents. He has beaten eight of the nine other players in the top 10; only Roger Federer, who has been out of competition for more than a year with knee problems, avoided a loss to Medvedev. Daniil Medvedev in his semifinal victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas.Credit…Patrick Hamilton/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images“For the confidence, when you beat everybody it’s just great, because I think people start maybe to be a little bit scared about you,” Medvedev said Friday after thrashing Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semifinals in Melbourne. “At the same time, sometimes there are going to be some that are going to want to beat you even more. It’s a tricky situation, but I’m happy I managed to be on top in all those 20 matches.”Djokovic is in his happy place.Though his name is not quite synonymous with this tournament in the way that Rafael Nadal’s has become with the French Open, Djokovic, 33, is the player of the century (so far) at the Australian Open. It was where he won his first Grand Slam title, in 2008, when he was only 20.Like Nadal in Paris, Djokovic is undefeated in finals in Melbourne, with an 8-0 record. If he wins on Sunday, Djokovic would sit alone in second place, behind Nadal and his 13 French Open titles, on the list of men’s singles championships won at a particular Grand Slam event. Djokovic is currently tied with Federer, who has eight Wimbledon singles championships.Djokovic’s dominance in Melbourne is not just about the surface: He has won only three titles at the United States Open, which is played on fairly similar hardcourts. Serbian fans supporting Djokovic in the semifinals.Credit…Daniel Pockett/Getty ImagesIn Melbourne, though, Djokovic gets strong support from a substantial local contingent of Serbian expatriates, whereas the crowds at the U.S. Open in New York often root against him.Medvedev has shown he can handle Djokovic.These days, Medvedev isn’t likely to be intimidated by anyone in tennis, and he has particular reasons to feel comfortable against Djokovic.Medvedev has won three of his seven previous meetings against Djokovic, including a semifinal at the Cincinnati Masters in 2019 on a fast hardcourt that played similarly to the courts in Melbourne this year.In the fourth round of the 2019 Australian Open, he lost to Djokovic, who received extra treatment because of all the exertion and contortion required to beat Medvedev.“It was hard to go through him,” Djokovic said that night. “It was kind of a cat-and-mouse game for most of the match — that’s why it was so lengthy. We had rallies of 40, 45 exchanges. That’s why I think it was physically exhausting, because of the fact that we didn’t really allow each other to think that we can make a lot of unforced errors and give away points.”In the third round this year at the Open, Djokovic sustained an abdominal injury in his match against Taylor Fritz. Djokovic initially spoke pessimistically about his chances of continuing in the tournament, but he has seemed less affected by the injury in each subsequent match, even as his right side remains heavily taped under his shirt.The rankings could be shaken up.To find the last final in which a male player claimed his first Grand Slam title against an older finalist who had already won one, you need to go back all the way to the 2009 United States Open, where Juan Martín del Potro beat Roger Federer. When Dominic Thiem won his first Grand Slam title at last year’s U.S. Open, he did it almost literally by default, after Djokovic had been disqualified from the tournament in the round of 16 when he swatted a stray ball in frustration and hit a lineswoman in the throat.A Medvedev victory, however, could represent a genuine shift. If he defeats Djokovic, he will rise to the No. 2 spot in the world rankings. It would be the first time since Lleyton Hewitt reached No. 2 in July 2005 that anyone but Djokovic, Nadal, Federer or Andy Murray was ranked in the top two.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      2021 Australian Open: Medvedev and Tsitsipas Chase a Grand Slam Final

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Australian OpenOsaka Ousts WilliamsNadal Is UpsetMedvedev-Tsitsipas PreviewWilliams’s CatsuitAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main story2021 Australian Open: Medvedev and Tsitsipas Chase a Grand Slam FinalMedvedev has been on a hot streak and has a 5-1 record against Tsitsipas, but he dealt with cramping at the end of his previous match.Daniil Medvedev has a 5-1 record against Stefanos Tsitsipas.Credit…David Gray/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesFeb. 18, 2021Updated 9:56 a.m. ETHow to watch: The match is at 3:30 a.m. Eastern time on Friday on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+.The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam event that splits its semifinals from the same singles draw, putting its second men’s singles semifinal alone on the Friday night session each year. It is the only time that a match other than a final gets such a showcase in the Grand Slam calendar, and this time the spotlight will be on two young stars: the fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev, a 25-year-old Russian, and the fifth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas, a 22-year-old Greek.Here’s what to look for in the highest-stakes match yet between two men of their generation as each vies for a spot in his first Australian Open final against Novak Djokovic, the world No. 1 ranking who has won the last two titles in Melbourne. Djokovic moved into the final on Thursday night by defeating Aslan Karatsev in their semifinal, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.Medvedev is on a hot streak.There is no men’s player in better form than Daniil Medvedev. He won titles at the Paris Indoors Masters and ATP finals last November and the ATP Cup earlier this month in Melbourne. He has won 19 consecutive matches on that run, 11 of which were against top-10 opponents.Medvedev looked especially formidable against Andrey Rublev of Russia in the quarterfinals. Rublev, 23, the seventh seed, is an unrelentingly aggressive player who won a tour-leading five titles last year, but he struggled to find any openings in Medvedev’s resolute defenses, and wilted in the heat in a straight-sets loss.Medvedev’s 19-match winning streak includes 11 victories against top-10 opponents.Credit…James Ross/EPA, via ShutterstockMedvedev also will be comfortable in the matchup against Tsitsipas, having won five of their six matches. He lost their most recent meeting, however, with Tsitsipas prevailing in the round-robin stages of the 2019 ATP finals en route to his most prestigious title to date.“He just plays extremely smart and outplays you,” Tsitsipas said of Medvedev on Thursday. “He’s somebody I really need to be careful with and just take my chances and press.”The end of their first match ‘felt like an M.M.A. fight.’The rivalry between Medvedev and Tsitsipas started before either had even cracked the top 40 of the ATP rankings. Their first match against each other, in the first round of the 2018 Miami Open, ended with Medvedev antagonizing Tsitsipas and challenging him to a fight after winning in three sets.In an interview last month, Tsitsipas discussed the altercation.“That felt very wrong, the overall ambience,” Tsitsipas said. “It didn’t belong to tennis, for sure, I tell you that. It felt like an M.M.A. fight. We’re out there playing tennis; we’re not there to fight each other. He was provoking me back then — that’s how I felt, maybe I’m wrong — but I didn’t want to continue from there. He was trying to approach me; I was not into it. I wasn’t there to fight, I was there to play tennis. That’s the last thing that I want when I enter the court.”Tsitsipas said that he had not discussed the incident with Medvedev, but that the tension between the two had recently thawed.“I saw him waving at me the other day, which was nice,” Tsitsipas said with a small laugh. “It kind of breaks the ice.”Tsitsipas’s walkover doesn’t necessarily mean he is well rested.Tsitsipas has played two five-set matches in the tournament. He has been on the court for an hour and 32 minutes longer than Medvedev.Credit…David Gray/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesDespite advancing via a walkover in the fourth round, Tsitsipas has been on the court an hour and 32 minutes longer than Medvedev has en route to the semifinals after playing five-set matches in the second round against Thanasi Kokkinakis and in the quarterfinals against Rafael Nadal.“I got the opportunity to play longer, feel the court, understand the environment that I’m in, so that could probably be seen as something positive,” Tsitsipas said after his win over Nadal. “On the other hand, yeah, OK, I might have spent a bit more time on the court, put my body in more stress and difficult tasks to complete.”Tsitsipas added that over all he felt he was in pretty good condition.“I think with experience I have realized how to preserve my energy and when I really have to put in the hard work in the match,” he said.Medvedev has been more efficient, but was cramping at the end of his straight-sets win over Rublev on Wednesday. He asked for the trainer to come massage his quadriceps after match point.How would either match up against Djokovic in the final?While both players would be underdogs against Djokovic, who is 8-0 in Australian Open finals, Medvedev and Tsitsipas have reason to believe they could be competitive.Medvedev, who pushed Nadal to five sets in his lone Grand Slam final appearance at the 2019 United States Open, has won three of his last four matches against Djokovic, including their most recent meeting at the ATP finals in November.Tsitsipas, who would be playing in his first Grand Slam final, is 2-4 against Djokovic but nearly leveled his record against him at last October’s French Open: Tsitsipas came from two sets down to force a fifth set in their semifinal before ultimately losing that set 6-1 after suffering a leg injury.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      2021 Australian Open: What to Watch on Tuesday Night

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Australian OpenWhat to Watch TodayHow to WatchThe Players to KnowFans in Virus LockdownAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main story2021 Australian Open: What to Watch on Tuesday NightTwo Americans, Jennifer Brady and Jessica Pegula, feature in a quarterfinal at the Australian Open.Jessica Pegula of the U.S. has dropped only one set on her way to the quarterfinals at the Australian Open.Credit…Asanka Brendon Ratnayake/ReutersFeb. 16, 2021Updated 10:14 a.m. ETHow to watch: 6 to 9 p.m., Eastern time on the Tennis Channel and 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. on ESPN2 in the United States; streaming on the ESPN+ and ESPN3 apps.The quarterfinals of the Australian Open continue on Tuesday night. As Ashleigh Barty and Rafael Nadal look to continue their dominance, young challengers will try to unseat them on the way to the final.Here are some matches to keep an eye on.The times for individual matchups are estimates and may fluctuate based on when earlier play is completed. All times are Eastern.Rod Laver Arena | 7 p.m. TuesdayAshleigh Barty vs. Karolina MuchovaAshleigh Barty withdrew from the WTA tour in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic, deciding to stay in Australia to keep herself and her team safe. Critics believed that it would be nearly impossible for Barty, the No. 1 seed, to meet expectations, but she has been in scintillating form. She has not lost a match in the past two weeks, winning the Yarra Valley Classic and not dropping a set on her way to the Australian Open quarterfinals.Karolina Muchova has reached the quarterfinals after two exceptional performances against Karolina Pliskova and Elise Mertens, the sixth and 18th seeds. The 24-year-old may have won both matches in straight sets, but she needed to win seven games in each to complete her upsets. Now, up against the consistent Barty, Muchova will need to temper high unforced error counts if she’s to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal.Rafael Nadal of Spain is a clear favorite to make the final at the Australian Open.Credit…Dave Hunt/EPA, via ShutterstockRod Laver Arena | 9 p.m. TuesdayJennifer Brady vs. Jessica PegulaAfter Jessica Pegula upset the No. 5 seed Elina Svitolina, she turned to the camera and finished off her signed message with, “See you in the next round Jen B.” Jennifer Brady returned the love after her victory over Donna Vekic, writing, “Bring it Jess.” The two Americans are good friends and have been supportive of each other’s progress.Before this tournament, Pegula had never reached the round of 16 at a major event. With wins over two top-20 players her run to the quarterfinals has been impressive with only one set dropped. Her aggressive style is well suited to the faster courts at this year’s Australian Open.Brady, who reached the semifinals at the United States Open in September, was the only female player placed in a more restrictive quarantine after arriving in Melbourne to reach the second week. On average, Brady has lost fewer than five games per match on her way to the quarterfinals, and it’s hard to see how Pegula might be able to upset the 22nd seed.Rod Laver Arena | 11 p.m. TuesdayAndrey Rublev vs. Daniil MedvedevAndrey Rublev and Daniil Medvedev secured the ATP Cup for Russia earlier this month, with neither player losing a singles match throughout. In their three meetings on the ATP Tour, Medvedev has come out on top each time, including in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open in September.This may be Rublev’s chance to finally overcome his friendly rival. He has looked particularly dominant, not dropping a set throughout the tournament. His match against Casper Ruud ended after only two sets when the Norwegian withdrew with an injury. Going into the quarterfinals, Rublev has led the field in both percentage of first service points won and second service points won, a sign of how hard it has been for opponents to break his serve.Medvedev has also been playing well, aside from a chaotic, disorganized third round match against Filip Krajinovic. He has now won 18 matches in a row, with his last loss coming in October at a tournament in Vienna. Although the fast surface fits Medvedev’s flat baseline shots, Rublev’s open stance is well suited in defense, and we’re sure to see many dynamic, aggressive points.Rod Laver Arena | 3:30 a.m. WednesdayRafael Nadal vs. Stefanos TsitsipasRafael Nadal, the No. 2 seed, has moved smoothly through the first four rounds, no surprise for a player with 20 Grand Slam titles. Although Nadal won his only Australian Open title over a decade ago, he has reached the finals on four other occasions since, and is a clear favorite in his half of the draw to do so again. Nadal’s powerful topspin shots are well-suited to clay courts where he can drag opponents around with tightly angled shots. Nadal’s ability to exploit his opponent’s weaknesses with relentless pressure can break most players on their best days.Stefanos Tsitsipas, the ATP finals winner in 2019, is a study in unpredictability. The fifth seed has a capable all-court game, but lacks the consistency to execute match after match. The 22-year-old has worked to improve this aspect of his game, but needed five sets to push back unseeded Thanasi Kokkinakis in the second round. After receiving a walkover in the round of 16, Tsitsipas will be well rested and hoping for an advantage against one of the most mentally tough players on tour.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Daniil Medvedev Finds Another Way of Playing Professional Tennis

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Australian OpenWhat to Watch TodayHow to WatchThe Players to KnowFans in Virus LockdownAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyDaniil Medvedev Finds Another Way of Playing Professional TennisHow is this elite tennis player different from all other tennis players? Let us count the ways. But can he win a Grand Slam title?Daniil Medvedev has carved out a quirky game in a sport driven by powerful strokes.Credit…David Gray/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesFeb. 16, 2021, 5:00 a.m. ETMELBOURNE, Australia — Men’s tennis in 2021 can feel like a fairly homogeneous affair. Big people. Big forehands. Big serves. A lot of guys seemingly trying to hit the ball through the wall behind the back of the court, even on their one-handed backhands.And then there is Daniil Medvedev, a lanky Russian who provides any number of answers to the question of how he’s different from other tennis players.Where to begin?There’s the bizarre service motion, in which Medvedev bounces the ball twice, then tosses it in the air without first bringing it into contact with his racket (try it sometime — it’s super awkward). In an era of ripped physiques built for power, Medvedev takes the court with a wiry 6-foot-6 frame and a slouching posture that seems like the creation of a caricature artist. Often, he likes to turn a furious baseline rally on its head with a sudden, deadly drop shot from the back of the court. Or a moonball. Or a twisting, beguiling slice.Medvedev has honed a quirky and creative mix of spins and surprise. He seems to care little about trying to dictate the terms of a match, and more about deducing which weapons the match requires and forever looking out for another trick.“That’s what I work on in practice, to have a lot of different weapons,” Medvedev said earlier this month as he was leading Russia to the ATP Cup, in which players compete for their countries. “Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes the opponent is too good, sometimes you don’t play good. It depends. It’s tennis.”Medvedev’s approach has made him the player who now elicits the lusty praise of the tennis aesthetes. Jim Courier, the former world No. 1 and two-time Australian Open champion, has called Medvedev a “shape shifter” because of his talent for taking points where no one thought they would go and finding the undiscovered angle. John McEnroe, the seven-time Grand Slam champion and ESPN analyst who was a favorite among tennis snobs of a previous generation who could tolerate his temper tantrums, said Medvedev was his favorite player to watch right now.“He’s like a chess master,” McEnroe said during a recent conference call. “He just plays old school a little bit. He’s strategizing, he’s thinking ahead. These are the types of guys that we need.”Whether tennis gets them remains to be seen. So many players in the emerging generation rely so heavily on their cannon-like serves and forehands. Also, Medvedev, who does have a booming serve and the ability to blast groundstrokes when he needs to, is already 25 and has yet to win a Grand Slam title. Each year that passes without a major championship will only increase the questions about whether his creativity can prevail during repeated five-set showdowns in the biggest tournaments. (It takes seven consecutive victories to claim a Grand Slam title.)Medvedev hitting a return against Mackenzie McDonald in the fourth round.Credit…William West/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesMedvedev’s next test occurs Wednesday, when he faces Andrey Rublev, a fellow Russian, close friend and tennis alter ego, in an Australian Open quarterfinal. Rublev rarely sees a ball he does not want to pound into oblivion, or a point he does not want to end as quickly as possible.At 23, Rublev is two years younger than Medvedev and grew up playing junior tournaments against him in Russia. For a long time Rublev, seeded No. 8, and Karen Khachanov, 24, the third member of Russia’s latest golden generation, were better than Medvedev. The rise for Medvedev came in 2018 and 2019, when he nearly beat Rafael Nadal in the 2019 United States Open final.“He reads the game really well,” Rublev said of Medvedev. “It’s amazing, the patience he has to stay so long in the rallies, to not rush, to take the time, because in the end these little details, they make him who he is.”Russia is the only country with two players in the top 10. Khachanov gives it three in the top 20. Aslan Karatsev, 27, another Russian ranked No. 114, came out of nowhere to make the quarterfinals here in his first Grand Slam tournament.Medvedev comes into the quarterfinal on perhaps the best roll of his career. He has won 18 consecutive singles matches. He won the ATP Tour finals in London in November, pulling off the nifty trick of beating the world’s top three players — Novak Djokovic, Nadal and Dominic Thiem — in a single tournament. For Russia at the ATP Cup, he beat Alexander Zverev of Germany, a 2020 U.S. Open finalist, in a tight, three-set match in the semifinal round.Medvedev spent his early childhood in Moscow and played few sports other than tennis growing up. He worshiped Russia’s last golden generation, which included Marat Safin and Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who were in their prime when he was a young child. He moved to France to train as a teenager and became fluent in English and French.Medvedev could be heard screaming at his coach, Gilles Cervara of France, in French during his third-round match against Filip Krajinovic of Serbia, as he frittered away a two-set lead before recovering to win the final set, 6-0.As Krajinovic controlled the match in the third and fourth sets, Medvedev screamed at Cervara — who is prohibited from coaching during the match — to leave him alone and just let him play.It was a flash of Medvedev’s personality from a few years ago, when, as he put it, he “could go crazy” at any moment.“Sometimes that can still get out, and usually it doesn’t help me to play good,” he said.Ultimately, it’s not clear how much any guidance can really affect such an idiosyncratic player and person, someone inclined to go his own way.For instance, Medvedev has spoken with nutritionists about his diet. He is not so strikingly thin because he watches what he eats. He has the appetite of a horse and one of those metabolisms that allows him to sample all the offerings at a Viennese table and never gain a pound, which is good, because he has a major weakness for desserts. Tiramisù, pie, candy; if it is sweet, he wants it.“Many people hate me probably for this,” he said. “I know that with age it can change, so I need to be careful about this because you never know when it’s coming.”He swears he cuts back on his sugar intake during Grand Slam tournaments, but he also said he had several cakes waiting for him in his room for after the tournament.He is hoping the cakes can wait a few more days and serve as a reward for him and his unique style.“I’m 25. I am playing good tennis,” he said. “I have zero Slams.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      2021 Australian Open: What to Watch on Sunday Night

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Australian OpenWhat to Watch TodayHow to WatchThe Players to KnowFans in Virus LockdownAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main story2021 Australian Open: What to Watch on Sunday NightFour American players feature as the round of 16 concludes at the Australian Open.Jennifer Brady made the semifinals of the United States Open last year. Can she follow it up with a deep run at the Australian Open?Credit…Jason O’Brien/EPA, via ShutterstockFeb. 14, 2021, 7:53 a.m. ETHow to watch: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern on the Tennis Channel and 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. on ESPN2 in the United States; streaming on the ESPN+ and ESPN3 apps.Jennifer Brady, the 22nd seed, played college tennis at U.C.L.A. After some initial success on the WTA Tour, reaching the round of 16 at the Australian Open and United States Open in 2017, she struggled for a while. But this past September she broke through with a trip to the semifinals of the U.S. Open after winning her first WTA Title at the Top Seed Open.Having lost only 11 games across her first three rounds, Brady has shown herself to be a real contender at the Australian Open. Against the 28th seed, Donna Vekic, she’ll need to show the consistency she has used to get here.Here are some matches to keep an eye on.Because of the number of matches cycling through courts, the times for individual matchups are at best estimates and are certain to fluctuate based on when earlier play is completed. All times are Eastern.Rod Laver Arena | 7 p.m. SundayElina Svitolina vs. Jessica PegulaElina Svitolina, the fifth seed, reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and was the runner-up in the WTA Finals in 2018 and 2019. Remarkably, the defensive baseliner seems to thrive on faster courts, soaking up the pressure from other players and redirecting their pace into clever counterattacks.Jessica Pegula has had a career delayed by injuries. Now, the 26 year-old has reached the second week of a major tournament for the first time, without dropping a set. In the first round, Pegula upset Victoria Azarenka, the 12th seed and a two time Grand Slam champion. Although that match was perilously close, her second and third round matches were little more than mild inconveniences, as she lost just four games across four sets.Although Pegula is certainly improving and showing a high level of play, Svitolina will be a tough challenge. Svitolina’s consistency and former experience in the second week of slams will make her the clear favorite.Margaret Court Arena | 8:30 p.m. SundayMackenzie McDonald vs. Daniil MedvedevAt the 2019 French Open, Mackenzie McDonald tore a hamstring tendon off the bone, leading to a difficult surgery and a lengthy recovery process. Now, he has reached the round of 16, tying his best result from before the injury. McDonald was especially impressive in his second round upset over the 22nd seed, Borna Coric, keeping calm and drawing errors with his consistent, deep shotmaking.Daniil Medvedev, the fourth seed, struggled in his third round matchup against Filip Krajinovic, losing the third and fourth sets in spectacular fashion. Medvedev cycled between yelling at himself in Russian, his coach in French, and Krajinovic’s well placed volleys in English. In the fifth set, Medvedev settled back in and won six straight games.For McDonald to pull off an upset, he will need to exploit Medvedev’s natural volatility. Medvedev should be able to keep McDonald at bay if he can keep calm and use his varied shots to pull the American around the edges of the court.Rod Laver Arena | 11 p.m. SundayRafael Nadal vs. Fabio FogniniRafael Nadal, the No. 2 seed, has struggled with a small back injury throughout the first week of the Australian Open. However, this has not stopped him from rolling past his opposition without dropping a set. Nadal’s powerful topspin shots have consistently pushed his opponents around the court, depriving them of the time necessary to impose their own ideas upon a rally.Fabio Fognini, the 16th seed, has had a roller coaster week. He struggled in a five-set contest against a fellow Italian, Salvatore Caruso, but then dispatched the 21st seed, Alex de Minaur, in just three sets. Fognini, who won a doubles title at the Australian Open in 2015, has been to the round of 16 in Melbourne four times, and will have a difficult time overcoming Nadal.Rod Laver Arena | 3 a.m. MondayAshleigh Barty vs. Shelby RogersAshleigh Barty, the world No. 1, has moved through to the fourth round without dropping a set. In her third round victory over Ekaterina Alexandrova she played smart tennis, not going for big shots and allowing Alexandrova to overplay and extracting 30 unforced errors.Shelby Rogers, an unseeded player, has reached two major quarterfinals, but has never won a WTA tournament. Her inconsistency on tour can partially be blamed on ruptured cartilage in her knee, which required surgery in 2018.Barty and Rogers faced off in the quarterfinals of the Yarra Valley Classic last week, with Barty winning in a third-set tiebreaker. For Rogers to reverse her fortunes, she’ll need to play aggressively without over-hitting, a tough needle to thread.Here are a few more matches to keep an eye on.Donna Vekic vs. Jennifer Brady — 9 p.m.Andrey Rublev vs. Casper Ruud — 11:30 p.m.Elise Mertens vs. Karolina Muchova — 2 a.m.Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Matteo Berrettini — 5 a.m.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Players to Watch at the Australian Open

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      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyPlayers to Watch at the Australian OpenWe know who’s likely to be in the spotlight at 2021’s first Grand Slam event, but here are six players who could be surprises.Daniil Medvedev on his way to winning the ATP Finals in November.Credit…Toby Melville/ReutersFeb. 6, 2021, 6:46 p.m. ETThe Australian Open has largely belonged to just two men since 2004, with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer winning 14 of 17 titles. With Federer sidelined by an injury, Djokovic is the obvious favorite, and there are just two other clear-cuts: Rafael Nadal, who captured his 20th Grand Slam singles title last year in France and could claim his record 21st in Australia, and Dominic Thiem, who earned his first at the 2020 United States Open. (Thiem also beat Nadal in last year’s Australian Open and pushed Djokovic to five sets in the final.)The women’s draw is more open, but it has a few players in the spotlight. As with the men’s side, it starts with the top three in the rankings: Australia’s own Ash Barty, the world No. 1, who did not play in 2020 after the lockdown; Simona Halep, who reached the semifinals of the Australian Open last year, and had a win streak of 17 matches and three titles; and Naomi Osaka, winner of three Grand Slam events, including the 2019 Australian Open.Then there’s Serena Williams, whom people will watch because of her all-around greatness. If she wins this year she will tie for the most Grand Slam singles titles among women with 24.But there are less-recognizable players who could have deep runs into the second week and might even win. Here are six to watch in 2021.Daniil MedvedevThe men’s Top 10 has several rising stars like Stefanos Tsitsipas or Alexander Zverev, but Daniil Medvedev is the best bet to take home the title. To win, a player will likely have to take down two of the top three seeds, and he is the best candidate.While Medvedev’s 16-19 record versus Top 10 players may sound poor, it’s the highest for a player without a Slam. He’s winless against Federer, so that absence improves Medvedev’s odds.Medvedev, the 6-foot-6 Russian with the big serve and persistent baseline game, emerged as one of the game’s top returners and a Top 5 player in 2019. Grinding his way to two Masters 1000 titles, he also reached six straight finals, including the U.S. Open, where he took Nadal to five sets.Most notable was his triumph in November at the ATP Finals, where he had five straight wins, over Diego Schwartzman, Zverev, Thiem, Nadal and Djokovic. That level of sustained excellence gives him an edge.Credit…James Ross/EPA, via ShutterstockNick KyrgiosKyrgios, of Australia, has an overpowering serve, making him especially dangerous on the Open’s hard courts. His hard-court winning percentage is among the highest of players competing at the tournament. But he has so far failed to live up to his enormous potential. Temperamental and undisciplined, he has fallen through the years from 13th in the world to 47th.At 25, he’s still young, and he is prodigiously talented.His athleticism and flash always make him riveting to watch. If he can stay focused for two weeks, he’s 5-5 lifetime versus Nadal and Djokovic, which should give the front-runners pause.Credit…Julian Finney/Getty ImagesTaylor FritzThe younger players who could make a mark in Australia include Denis Shapovalov, Félix Auger-Aliassime, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. The most likely American would be 30th-ranked Taylor Fritz. Fritz has wins over Thiem, Zverev and top veterans like Fabio Fognini and Schwartzman. Last year, Fritz reached the finals in Acapulco, Mexico. A quarterfinal slot might be a stretch, but if he survives until the second week, it will herald a big step forward.Credit…Lintao Zhang/Getty ImagesBianca AndreescuThe cancellation of WTA’s year-end tournament gave the top players a long break before the Australian Open. But no top contender has been off the court as long as the eighth-ranked Bianca Andreescu, who has been sidelined with injuries since 2019.That year, she won 31 of her first 34 matches, including the BNP Paribas Open as a wild card because of a wide array of shots and a fearlessness in going for them. She capped her rise by upsetting Williams in the U.S. Open finals. If her shoulder and knee are healthy, she has the aggressiveness, the power and the Grand Slam experience to tear through the tournament.Credit…Thomas Samson/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesVictoria AzarenkaShe may be ranked only 13th, but she is, once again, a definite threat. Winner of the Australian Open championship in 2012 and 2013, Azarenka reached No. 1 in the world. She was the game’s top returner, breaking her opponent’s serve more than half the time. But she fell off the map after having a baby and then getting caught in a custody battle. When she did play, she struggled, reaching the fourth round of a major just once.But in 2020, Azaernka rediscovered her magic in a five-tournament run, where she won a title, reached two more finals, including the U.S. Open, and beat six players in the Top 20.Credit…Pool photo by Riccardo AntimianiGarbiñe MuguruzaShe finished 2019 ranked 36th. Then she went to the Australian Open in 2020 and reminded everyone that she was a former No. 1 and a Wimbledon and French Open champion. Muguruza used improved net play to topple the Top 10 players Elina Svitolina, Kiki Bertens and Halep en route to the finals. She lost to Sofia Kenin.Muguruza’s big serve and potent, albeit high-risk, ground strokes also looked impressive in Rome in September, and she defeated Sloane Stephens, Coco Gauff, Johanna Konta and Azarenka before falling to Halep. With both of those 2020 tournaments, Muguruza, now ranked 15th, showed she still had what it takes for a deep Grand Slam run.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More