Medvedev to face Nadal in Australian Open final

World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev has locked in his final with Rafael Nadal after beating out Stefanos Tsitsipas in four sets, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 on Friday night, reported Xinhua.

Going into the semifinal, Tsitsipas was the clear underdog, with his Russian opponent and U.S. Open defending champion winning six out of eight of their previous games.

The duelling young-guns traded service in the first set, each unable to break his opponent, bringing the set to a tiebreaker.

23-year-old Tsitsipas took an early 4-1 lead in the tiebreaker, but the Russian champion was able to stage a last-minute turnaround, taking the tiebreaker 7-5. In set one, 25-year-old Medvedev maintained a staggering 94 percent service game win rate.

The Greek world No. 4 found his way around the Russian's dominant serves in set two, securing a fast break in game one that put Medvedev on his back foot. Medvedev was able to break back, but an untimely fault in game nine allowed Tsitsipas to even the score.

In the final game of set three, Medvedev clutched a quick break with a series of backhand winners, taking the game into the fourth.

In the final set, Medvedev took advantage of a shaky, dispirited Tsitsipas, closing the match out after a double break in a speedy 24 minutes.