We now know who will be in the men’s singles final and the women’s singles final of the 2021 Australian Open in Melbourne. On Friday, the men’s semi-finals concluded with the fourth-seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia defeating the fifth-seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, 6-4, 6-2, 7-5 in straight sets.
Both of the men’s semifinals went only three sets each. Novak Djokovic of Serbia defeated Aslan Karatsev of Russia 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 on Thursday. The fact that Djokovic has one more day of rest to prepare for the final should help him immensely against Medvedev. Earlier in the tournament, Djokovic suffered an abdominal injury when he slipped on the court in a five-set thriller against Taylor Fritz of the United States. After the match, Djokovic stated he tore a muscle, but according to health experts, there is zero chance Djokovic could have beaten Milos Raonic, Alexander Zverev, and Karatsev the way he did with a torn muscle.
Head-to-head, Djokovic has the slim 4-3 advantage over Medvedev. Djokovic won their only past appearance at a major, as he defeated Medvedev 6-4, 6-7, 6-2, 6-3 in the fourth round of the 2019 Australian Open.
On the women’s side, the finalists will be 22nd ranked Jennifer Brady of Harrisburg, PA, and third-ranked Naomi Osaka of Japan. In the semi-finals, Brady defeated 25th ranked Karolina Muchova 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. The best game of the match was actually the final one. Muchova had numerous opportunities to break Brady’s serve, as the game lasted 18 points before the American was finally victorious.
In Osaka’s 6-3, 6-4 win over Williams, the 10th seed, Williams had 24 unforced errors and her mobility had not been as strong as it was earlier in the tournament. After the match, there was some speculation that this might be Williams’ last Australian Open, but that is something Williams denied in her post-match press conference.
Meanwhile, Osaka has the 2-1 advantage over Brady head-to-head. In their last battle, Osaka came away with a 7-6, 3-6, 6-3 win in the semi-finals of the 2019 U.S. Open.
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