"He's got to be hurting physically": John McEnroe lauds Daniil Medvedev but says 'fresh' Jannik Sinner more likely to win Australian Open

Former world number one John McEnroe has heaped praise on the world number three Daniil Medvedev for putting a great show physically in the Australian Open 2024.

The 27-year-old booked his place in the final of the first Grand Slam of the season after beating Germany’s Alexander Zverev despite being two sets down in one of the best comebacks in the history of the event in a five-set thriller with a score of 5-7, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-3 on Friday.

He will be facing Italy’s young tennis star Jannik Sinner who booked his place in the final of a major tournament for the first time after defeating the world number one Serbia’s Novak Djokovic with a score of 6-1, 6-2, 6-7, 6-3.

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Talking ahead of the final of the Australian Open, McEnroe, who won seven Grand Slam titles in his illustrious career, was recently quoted in a report where he heaped praise on Medvedev while suggesting that he would be ‘hurting physically’ three five-set matches in the competition and further highlighted that his opponent will be far more fresher in the contest.

“He’s been known as a human backboard, but what he’s done is rather remarkable already,” said McEnroe. “I already thought of Daniil Medvedev as a chess master, a brilliant strategist, he did it once again [in the semi-final] - he shifted gears, changed his return position, started attacking more, serving bigger.

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Jannik Sinner joins very rare company.

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“He did everything to get back into the match. But he’s played three five setters - Sinner has lost one set. So this would be truly remarkable if Medvedev can rise to the occasion once more, he’s got to be hurting physically.

"But I sort of thought that against Zverev, that the difference was that Zverev was hurting and it caught up to him as the match wore on. But Sinner will be fresh and that is the difference to me.”