The Russian cold-bloodedly strangled his opponent in the historic semi-finals.
Reaching the Wimbledon semi-finals is a fundamental achievement for Daniil Medvedev. This tournament for a long time remained the most difficult for the Russian in the Grand Slam series: until 2023, the tennis player never managed to reach the final rounds of the English championship. The confrontation with Carlos Alcaras for a ticket to the final promises to be difficult, but our athlete has a chance to win over the first racket of the world.
The key to Medvedev’s victory may be his cold-blooded nature, thanks to which the Russian has already won four of his five career TSH semi-finals, including a historic duel with Grigor Dimitrov at the US Open.
Daniel won a flawless victory in three sets.
Medvedev’s historic breakthrough
The 2019 US Open was a milestone in Medvedev’s sports biography. According to the results of the previous season, the Russian has already firmly established himself in the world elite, finishing in the top 20 of the ATP rating, but he has not yet been able to prove himself at the Grand Slam tournaments. Daniil performed best on hard, reaching the third round at the US Open and the fourth at the Australian Open.
That summer, the talented tennis player managed to make a long-awaited breakthrough. In August, Medvedev produced an excellent series, playing in three hard finals in a row: in Washington, the Russian lost to Kiryos, in Montreal to Nadal, and in Cincinnati he managed to take the title by beating Goffin. As a result, he approached the US Open already in the status of the fifth racket of the world, and the expectations from him were higher than ever.
Medvedev more than justified the issued advances. The tennis player effortlessly overcame the first four stages of the tournament: only Feliciano Lopez brought him tangible troubles, but in the fourth set the Russian broke the Spaniard’s resistance. In the first TBSH quarter-final in his career, our athlete got to compete with Stan Wawrinka, seeded under the 23rd number: Daniil dealt with him in 2.5 hours, allowing the Swiss to make only two breaks.
The Russian approached the semifinal match against Grigor Dimitrov in the status of a nominal favorite, but his opponent at that time was in brilliant shape. Not without reason, in the US, the Bulgarian has already defeated Coric and even Federer, putting the squeeze on the five-time US Open winner in a five-set duel. In a word, Medvedev could not afford to underestimate his opponent.
“The Future of Tennis”
The opponents played the first set almost on an equal footing, but at that moment the key trends of the match were already visible. If Dimitrov won long rallies, finishing them with spectacular blows to the delight of the audience, then Medvedev acted methodically and patiently, collecting key points. As a result, the Russian managed to win the tie-break: 7:6 (7:5).
The climax of the duel came at the end of the second set. With the score 4:4, Daniil first took the most difficult game on his serve, and then made a break, negating several of Grigor’s heroic saves. At this moment, it seems, the Russian managed to break the opponent psychologically (6:4). In the third set, Dimitrov had practically no resistance to Medvedev: our tennis player literally strangled the Bulgarian with his composure.
Viewers’ opinions about the match were divided. While one part of the fans complained about Medvedev’s “dull” and “unemotional” style of play, the other saw in him the face of a new generation and noted the staunch character of the Russian. Fans on social networks noted that after the victory, not a single muscle trembled on Daniil’s face: the athlete simply breathed a sigh of relief, not shaking his fists in the face of a defeated opponent.
– The media say that Zverev, Tsitsipas and Kiryos are the future of men’s tennis. Meanwhile, Medvedev: “Hold my vodka.”
– Medvedev is a mixture of Djokovic, Murray and Simon. It’s not very spectacular, but it’s really effective.
— Medvedev does not play unusually or aggressively, but still takes points. I have never seen such a calm and reserved player.
He is not only smart, but also mentally strong. The stands were clearly rooting for Dimitrov, but this had no effect on Medvedev.
Despite the fact that throughout the tournament the American fans really booed the tennis player, he managed to get into the final of the tournament. Then, however, the Russian failed to take the title: he was stopped by Rafael Nadal. At Wimbledon, Daniil will have to fight not with the great Spaniard, but with his young heir: it is quite possible that the fifth final in his career for Medvedev is just around the corner.
I am a sports journalist who has written for a number of Sportish. I have a background in journalism and have been writing since I was young. My main focus is sports news, but I also write about general news. I am currently working as an author at Sportish.
39-year-old French tennis player and husband of Elina Svitolina Gael Monfils (ATP 110) Withdrew from the 2026 Australian Open.
The Frenchman lost to the Australian in four sets in the first round of the major tournament in Melbourne Dane Sweeney (ATP 182) in 3 hours 54 minutes.
Australian Open 2026. 1/64 finals
Dane Sweeney (Australia) [Q] – Gael Monfils (France) – 6:7 (3:7), 7:5, 6:4, 7:5
Monfils played on the Australian Open courts for the 20th time. For Gael, this was his last match at the Australian slam; He will retire in 2026.
Gael’s best results at the Aus Open are quarter-finals in 2016 and 2022. Sweeney will face eighth seed Ben Shelton in the second round.
“First of all, thank you very much. My journey started with you in 2005 – that’s when I first came here. Now the year is 2026 and somehow this is already the finish line. Thank you very much for this amazing journey. You were incredible. Thank you very much. I have very good memories here… Great battles. I am lucky to have played here for many years.”
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
(Melbourne) The ex-no 1 world Naomi Osaka (current 17e in the WTA rankings) qualified Tuesday in three sets for the second round of the Australian Open.
Crowned in Melbourne in 2019 and 2021, the Japanese won 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 against the Croatian Antonia Ruzic (65e).
The four-time Grand Slam winner will play in the next round against Romanian Sorana Cirstea (41e), who started the last Australian Open of her career at age 35 by eliminating the German Eva Lys (39e).
Entering the court with a white parasol, a wide-brimmed hat and a long white train, Osaka started the match with her feet on the ground to quickly lead 3-0.
Ruzic recovered to 3-3 before again losing three games in a row and the first set.
The Croatian responded in the second round, winning by the same score.
In the decisive set, Osaka broke from the start to break away at 2-0, but Ruzic came back to her level again before taking her throw in to lead 4-3, service to follow.
This time it was the Japanese who held on to get back to 4-4, before inflicting a shutout then a new break on Ruzic to seal her qualification with a final winning backhand, after almost 2 hours 30 minutes of fighting.
Osaka played her first Grand Slam match on Tuesday since her semi-final at the United States Open in September, her best run in a major tournament since she returned to the circuit in early 2024 after the birth of her first child.
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
(Melbourne) World No.2 Jannik Sinner, double title holder, benefited on Tuesday from the retirement of Frenchman Hugo Gaston (93e), injured his abdominals, to qualify for the second round of the Australian Open.
The 24-year-old Italian was leading 6-2, 6-1 when Gaston threw in the towel.
“It’s the abs that have given up a little. I felt the pain in the middle of the first round. I called the doctor immediately at the end of the first round to get an anti-inflammatory,” explained the Frenchman who suddenly felt “like a little stab”.
He fell during the first round after returning a drop shot from Sinner, but he assured that the injury and the fall were not linked.
On the other hand, the pain in his abdominals bothered him a lot “on serve and on high balls”.
“I saw that he was not serving at a very high speed, especially in the second set,” commented Jannik Sinner in his post-match interview on Central.
“I am very happy to qualify, to return to this place that I particularly cherish […]but that’s not the way I wanted to win this match,” added the world No.2.
Sinner’s next opponent will be Croatian Dino Prizmic (127e) or the Australian James Duckworth (88e).
For his first official match of the season, the four-time Grand Slam tournament winner took a little time to settle down, notably having to save three break points in the first game.
But once he managed to take Gaston’s serve in the particularly tight sixth game, Sinner unfolded, winning the next seven games. A few moments after snatching his only game in a one-sided second round, the Frenchman informed his opponent that he was giving up, after a little over an hour of match.
“Giving up pisses me off a bit,” Gaston commented. But hey, on the other hand I can’t afford to play at 50%, even 100%, to beat Sinner…”
Undefeated since his retirement at the beginning of October in the third round of the Masters 1000 in Shanghai, the world No.2 scored a sixteenth victory in a row on Tuesday and joined Carlos Alcaraz (1) in the second round of the Australian Open.er), Alexander Zverev (3e) and Novak Djokovic (4e).
“I felt very well prepared, we worked a lot physically and on the court” during the offseason, said Sinner, who skipped the Davis Cup finals in Bologna in November to have an additional week of preparation for the 2026 season.
For his part, Lorenzo Musetti, seeded fifth, progressed due to the retirement of Raphaël Collignon of Belgium in the fourth round.
The score was 4-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5 and 3-2. The nature of the injury has not been released.
Shelton hits hard
The 23-year-old American Ben Shelton inherited probably the worst draw, in the person of the first ATP player not to have been seeded, the Frenchman Ugo Humbert.
But last year’s semi-finalist, who made his name by reaching the quarter-finals in Melbourne in 2023 despite never having left the United States, was uncompromising and won 6-3, 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/5).
PHOTO MARTIN KEEP, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Ben Shelton
“It’s always difficult to face Humbert in the first round, but I remained very calm, very focused on my game and I played better and better,” he stressed with satisfaction.
He will play in the second round against the Australian Dane Sweeny (182e).
Monfils eliminated in the first round of his last tournament in Australia
Gaël Monfils, who will end his career at the end of the season, was eliminated Tuesday in the first round of his last Australian Open by the inexperienced Australian Dane Sweeny (182e world) 6-7 (3/7), 7-5, 6-4, 7-5.
The 39-year-old Frenchman plays his 23e and final season. Ex-world No.6 currently 110ehe was playing his 20e Australian major since his first participation in 2005. He has reached the quarter-finals twice, in 2016 and 2022.
PHOTO PAUL CROCK, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Gaël Monfils
“My journey began here in 2003 (in qualifying, Editor’s note). We are in 2026 and it is the finish line, but thank you all for accompanying me, you were great,” he told the audience from the court while generally only the winner of the matches, before the final, speaks on the field.
“I fought four hours again today, but this guy (Sweeny) is very strong. I wish him good luck,” he added to his winner.
For the latter, the victory is particularly beautiful, because in addition to having beaten one of the great names in tennis of the last twenty years, he offered himself his first victory in a Grand Slam tournament.
“It’s like I’m in a series… it’s incredible,” he commented. Before the match started, his goal was “win or lose, enjoy the chance to be there.”
As usual, the most popular French player since Yannick Noah spared no effort. And despite the encouragement of the public – in particular from a group of French people – the youth of his opponent (24 years old) visibly prevailed, as Monfils appeared so tired.
Broken one last time to be down 6-5 in the fourth set and the Australian’s service to follow, Monfils failed to reverse the situation.
“You’re here, you played your 20are Australian Open and you have entered a very closed circle: you are six players from the Open era (since the 1969 edition) to have reached this bar,” tournament director Craig Tiley told him, who came to greet him on the court.
“We want to thank you for your career, your attitude and the way you taught us how to play this wonderful game. Well done,” added Tiley.
Monfils’ last match in Melbourne, greeted by a hearty ovation from the public with “thank you Gaël” sung in the stands, lasted 3 hours 51 minutes.
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
