Daniil Medvedev can play major heart-breaker for the second straight Slam and emerge as record player in Sunday's Australian Open final.
The second-ranked Russian denied Novak Djokovic's Grand Slam dream sweeping the Serbian in the US Open final last September. Now, Medvedev aims to halt history again and stop Rafael Nadal from capturing a men's record 21st Grand Slam championship in Melbourne.
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Medvedev, who fell to Nadal in a riveting five-set final at the 2019 US Open, said he's too focused on winning his first AO title to be concered with Nadal's pursuit of an iconic record.
"I'll be honest, on me it doesn't [have any impact]," Medvedev said. "It's not me going for the 21st, not me trying to break these records. I'm going for my second one. I'm still far from all these things. I can maybe compete with other guys who have won, but I won't even name them all, I don't know who has maybe two or one.
"So I'm just, you know, trying to focus on myself, doing my job. Of course, you know, I'm not lying, I know what's happening, I know what Rafa is going for, I knew what Novak was going for. I'm not gonna say, Oh, yeah, I am trying not to listen about this. But it's kind of their thing, not mine. I'm just there to try to win the final."
The 35-year-old Nadal has beaten Medvedev in three of their four meetings, but the Russian won their most recent match at the 2020 ATP Finals in London.
History is within the 25-year-old Russian's reach: if Medvedev takes the title he will be the first man in Open Era history to win a second Grand Slam championship at the next event after winning his maiden major.
"But it gave me a lot of confidence in my own power, in my own tennis, that now I know that I'm capable of winning seven matches in a row and the last one against Novak was epic," Medvedev said. "So I knew before this tournament that it is possible. That's what's so far I'm trying to prove. Again, I'm really happy that I have the shot for the title on Sunday."
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