MATCH PREVIEW and PREDICTION | 2024 Australian Open FINAL: Familiar rivals face off as Jannik SINNER bids for first Grand Slam against Daniil MEDVEDEV

Sunday morning sees the 2024 Australian Open Men's Singles champion crowned as third seed Daniil Medvedev faces fourth seed, Jannik Sinner in a familiar rivalry but one that has flipped in recent times during the Italian's ride to the top.

Our preview looks ahead to the final which is due to take place on Sunday 28 January at around 9:30am CET and will see two of the best players in the world battle for the Australian Open title.

Aside from against Novak Djokovic in a tie-break which he had a match point, Jannik Sinner has not lost a set all tournament and has been utterly imperious against all comers including Botic van de Zandschulp, Jesper de Jong, Sebastian Baez, Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev before the great Serbian.
But it was the manner in which he took down Djokovic again which shows that Sinner is a different beast nowadays and a different one than his Head to Head record against Medvedev shows. Since puking in a bin at the China Open, he has become a force to be reckoned with so perhaps the sickness he felt gave way to a new sense of purpose bizarrely. But for Darren Cahill and Simone Vagnozzi, it will be the end of a long road getting Sinner to the top who perhaps amid the rise of Carlos Alcaraz has floundered on early potential. This time around though it is anything but.
There is also the adage that in the case of Sinner, him and Medvedev have both not played warm-ups which in the case of Carlos Alcaraz did not work. But in the case of Sinner and Medvedev, it did as he came into the tournament with higher expectation and ultimately delivered on it. Forza Jannik indeed and a player who could hunt down his maiden Grand Slam title on Sunday.

Earlier in the tournament, Medvedev balked at the notion that he has gone under the radar especially considering he is a former US Open champion and has been in the sports' elite table for some years. A player who is always there or thereabouts and he will get the opportunity to add a second Grand Slam on Sunday.
But perhaps it is merely the route he has taken these two weeks that has seen him fly under the radar. He started early on with an epic late night win over Emil Ruusuvuori which also drew the ire for all the wrong reasons as Medvedev was made to play at stupid o'clock due to scheduling which again has come into question throughout the tournament.
His only real easy win has come against Felix Auger-Aliassime, with his win over Alexander Zverev being case and point as he had to come back from two sets down to win. But surviving is often the makeup of a champion and Novak Djokovic who wasn't 100% all tournament nearly continued his streak of making a living out of it. Perhaps though with a chip on his shoulder, he has proven a lot of doubters wrong and will do so again if he wins with Sinner likely being the favourite.
Their Head to Head points towards the Russian but also has a deeper meaning to that with Sinner winning the last three after previously being 6-0 down in their back and forth. The new Sinner has been so good that he has tore him apart in finals in Beijing and Vienna as of late as well as the ATP Finals semi-finals and has found himself unlocking the keys to the Medvedev castle. But can he do it on the biggest stage of all? A match destined to go long, but who comes out on top. Time will tell.