World number one Novak Djokovic will be up against Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in the 2021 Australian Open final to be played on Sunday, February 21. Get regular updates in this live blog & streaming options on this women’s singles final from Melbourne Park.
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Other Novak Djokovic v Daniil Medvedev Match Details
- Match Timing: 7.30 pm AEDT (3.30 am Eastern Time, 9 am GMT, 5.30 pm Tokyo time, 2 pm IST)
- Djokovic v Medvedev Predictions & Tips Here
- Live Streaming & TV Options Here
- Top Djokovic v Medvedev Betting Odds with BetUS Here
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Djokovic v Medvedev Brady Live Score
Djokovic 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 Medvedev (* denotes next server, please refresh for the latest score)
Live Updates
Set 3, Game 8
Medvedev now has to serve to stay in the match but doesn’t begin too well with Djokovic making him run all around before finishing the point with an inside-out forehand winner.
A solid return from the Djokovic racquet brings out a backhand error from the Russian and just when it looks like Djokovic’s defensive play could frustrate his opponent into losing another one, the world number one finds the net. Some respite.
Medvedev needs his first serve going, but all he has going is the crowd…fortunately for him, a second serve is then pumped straight into the net to bring it to 30-30.
That doesn’t change things around too much when another deep Djokovic shot gets Medvedev to return long. Match-point number one and that’s converted so easily by Djokovic off an overhead smash!
Game, Set, Match and Australian Open Number Nine, Novak!
Set 3, Game 7
What a volley from Novak to bring the crowd to their feet, getting the ball away from behind the service line but a booming backhand shot from Medvedev gets them level at 15-15. Can the Russian lift himself up here?
And he does look like doing that, with the long rally now going in favour of Medvedev who punches a forehand winner down Djokovic’s left. The Russian then gets the crowd going by asking them to cheer on…
…not that it’s affecting Djokovic too much as he dishes out a clinical first serve which brings us back to 30-30, and very soon, a solid depth in his groundstrokes from the world number wins him a game-point. Djokovic is pumped, so his box and some parts of the crowd.
Djokovic holds after Medvedev fails to keep a long rally going, hitting an unforced error into the net, giving him a 5-2 lead.
The Russian looked like he did have a fair chance there but the genius of Djokovic was there for all to see.
Set 3, Game 6
Medvedev starts his serving game well but misses a simple slice drop shot at the net to make it 15-15. A good, solid display of backhand groundstrokes from Medvedev, one of the very rare ones forces a Djokovic error – after a longish rally – and when Medvedev gets a good serve going, he has two game-points.
And he wins the game with another of Novak’s errors, a rare quick hold for the Russian.
Set 3, Game 5
Back to back serves that make life difficult for Medvedev and the frustrated Russian hits them too long or wide. Medvedev pulls one back but then follows it up with another forehand error – far too many of them in recent times – to give Novak two game-points.
Medvedev seems to have taken toll of the weakish Djokovic second serve but the world number one’s defensive play is something from another planet and that frustrates Medvedev into hitting long. Easy game for Djokovic again.
Set 3, Game 4
Here’s a stunning stat. Since Novak led 6-5 in the first set, Medvedev has held serve just once.
He starts off the game well enough here to finally show signs of holding one, taking a 30-0 lead but a longish rally later, Medvedev smacks one wide – his issue in these long rallies has often been his lack of patience…
…but whoa, stop the press, we just might have had the rally of the game with both players trying pickleball-like dinks at the net! It ends with Medvedev getting one just over the net.
And the Russian finally holds on to his serve when Djokovic hits one long.
Set 3, Game 3
Two easy points start things off for Novak before Medvedev gets that odd good return in to test the Serb. A short rally later, Medvedev hits another long, the 22nd unforced error of the match for him.
Medvedev hangs in there with a good return and a smashing backhand to force a Djokovic error, but isn’t able to push the game any further, finding the net to the Serb’s serve. This is getting over very quickly.
Set 3, Game 2
Medvedev tries to change things around by getting to the net and then does well to return a half-volley only to hit one wide next. A solid serve follows but he then follows that up with a double-fault.
Another excellent serve makes it 30-30, and the next one is slightly wide, forcing Djokovic to hit with the angle, going just out. Another exceptional return from Djokovic brings the game to deuce, and Medvedev helps his opponent with another double-fault.
And Medvedev then lets Djokovic win the game with a poor volley at the net. Another break.
Set 3, Game 1
Novak to start serving yet again and Medvedev has to look at changing things around. Because since 6-5 in the first set, this has been very easy for the Serb.
Some help from the world number one would help as is the case to kick things off with a double-fault first up, and Medvedev then sends in a return that gets him the early advantage in the rally which he converts this time. An early opening to get some momentum back in at 0-30 but Djokovic sends one booming serve in.
Another double-fault, the second of the game, gives Medvedev two break-points, totally against the run of play. A slow, kicking second serve ends up with Medvedev not taking the advantage and hitting it wide, before Djokovic sends one down the middle to bring it back to deuce.
Medvedev then hits one wide in the middle of a rally, and then hits one long to hand Djokovic the game. A return gift, wrapped with a bow on the top.
Bigger question is whether Medvedev can hold because he hasn’t done too much of that for a while.
Set 2, Game 8
Can smashing that racquet bring out the best in Medvedev? It doesn’t start off too well for him, with Djokovic winning the opening point but a drop-shot gets Djokovic rushing to the net which is followed by an overhead lob that leads to the Russian levelling things out.
A frustrated Medvedev then serves a double-fault, and then a poor second serve leads to the Russian hitting the Djokovic return long. Two set-points for Novak.
Djokovic misses the first one but easily wins it off the second with the Russian looking absolutely outplayed and running out of ideas.
Set 2, Game 7
Again, such an excellent, long rally but this time it’s Novak who blinks first by hitting a backhand slice into the net. Djokovic has a chance to finish off the next point early but a solid defensive play from Medvedev makes the Serb take a circuitous route into eventually making it 15-15 and then a strong serve later he takes the lead.
Another solid display of serving gets him two break-points, one of which is saved the depth on offer from Medvedev. The Russian takes advantage of a slightly weaker second serve from Novak and forces him to hit one wide to get it to deuce, but the world number retaliates with another ace. Third game-point.
And he clinches it with another excellent serve, which also leaves Medvedev with a broken racquet. With some vengeance.
Set 2, Game 6
What can Medvedev do here? He looked good for a while in the first set but a crucial break in the 12th game has thrown his game apart and since then he hasn’t held even once.
Two excellent serves start things off positively for Medvedev and then Novak hits a return straight into the net to give Medvedev three game-points. A few seconds later he has clinched the game with Djokovic hitting one long
54-second-game that.
Set 2, Game 5
A brilliant return from Medvedev leaves Djokovic stunned but an equally powerful serve next up brings parity to the proceedings. Another excellent serve down the middle gives Djokovic a 30-15 lead, and it’s soon two game-points when Djokovic’s smash is hit wide by his opponent.
And an ace to finish off the game to go 4-1 up.
Set 2, Game 4
Medvedev needs an easier hold after having gotten broken twice in a row now.
An excellent display of defensive play from Medvedev but 24 shots later, he ends up hitting the net cord. Again, that is some excellent returning from Djokovic.
A backhand error on return gets Medvedev the point, only for him to surrender that position with an excellent return from Djokovic.
In the middle of a rally, a woman screams out some kind of a protest and the players have to replay the point – thankfully nobody really had an advantage on that one. The Russian dinks an ace, but Djokovic is back in the lead to get himself a break-point with an error from Medvedev.
Another backhand error follows and gives Djokovic a third break in a row, one-way traffic this.
Set 2, Game 3
A brilliant volley gets Djokovic the early point – that was the ninth point he won at the net having lost zero – but Medvedev isn’t letting go of the hold he seems to have on the Djokovic serve in some of the last few games. Back to back attacking displays on the Novak serve gets Medveded a lead but then hits an unforced error when he could have send that away to get two break-points.
Another unforced error in which Medvedev puts in a lot more power on his groundstroke sees it go long, followed by another long rally with a similar result. Game Djokovic after bit of an early hiccup and he is back in the lead.
Set 2, Game 2
A double-fault from Medvedev, the first by either player of the match, gives Djokovic an early look into the Medvedev serve but the Russian retaliates with two successive displays of defensive tennis and converts the rally into his favour.
Excellent Djokovic returns force back to back errors off the Medvedev racquet to give him a break-point and he does exactly what his opponent had done in the previous game – breaks off the only break-point he had.
Tasty battle.
Set 2, Game 1
Djokovic starts things off with an attempt to force a winner at the end of a long rally but a strong defensive play from Medvedev ends up in the world number one finding the net. A strong serve down straight helps Djokovic level things out.
Medvedev builds strongly into the next point and drills down a winner mid-court, giving the Russian bit of a sniff in this game. A missed first serve helps Medvedev return but the Serb is quickly back into the rally and brings out a shot too long from the Russian’s racquet.
Djokovic thinks he has hit an ace but the let machine goes off, much to the Serb’s chagrin and the point that follows goes in Medvedev’s favour. He gets a break-point and promptly converts it after a strong rally with Djokovic hitting it into the net. Seventh unforced error from Nole.
Set 1, Game 12
Medvedev had an extraordinary hold under pressure the last time he served to stay in the set. Can Djokovic break his hold this time?
Djokovic gets the early advantage in the first rally and this time around he finishes off the point with an excellent forehand down the line. Medvedev needs to get his first serves in but he fails yet again, allowing Djokovic to rush to the net and forces an error off the Russian’s racquet.
And when Medvedev fails to get a winner away off an easy volley, Djokovic has three set-points to his name.
The Russian saves the first one with good serve, and makes it two in two with another solid serve to bring it back to 30-40 But off the third, he fails to keep the ball in play, hitting it straight into the net and with that it’s game and set Djokovic!
Set 1, Game 11
Djokovic needs to build into that opening rally before smashing a near-unreturnable groundstroke, a drop-shot and a volley to complete the winner off the second point and back to back solid serves takes him to an easy hold.
Again, Daniil will need to serve to stay in the match.
Set 1, Game 10
Can Medvedev serve well under the pressure of having to stay in the set? He does start off well, banging in back to back difficult-to-return serves which sees him take a 30-0 lead and when Djokovic brilliantly returns one back, a thundering forehand winner gets him three game-points.
Another forehand winner follows and Medvedev has gone through a pressure game in a jiffy.
Set 1, Game 9
Settling into some excellent rallies now and Daniil has begun to win some of these long ones too, like the opening point of this game. An unforced error from Djokovic, his seventh of the set wins Medvedev the first point. But Medvedev then returns back the gift to level things up at 15-15, while a good kicking serve wide helps Novak take the lead.
A solid serve brings out an ordinary return from Medvedev, which Novak dispatches for a winner, giving himself two game-points. The world number one clinches the game after another rally to remember when his drop shot is smashed into the net by the Russian.
Medvedev will now serve to stay in the set.
Set 1, Game 8
An excellent serve gets Medvedev going in this crucial eighth game, and then a dozen or so shot-rally later, Djokovic tries another drop shot which Medvedev gets to easily and converts into a point in his favour.
A hard-hitting rally follows soon after, both going deep and powerfully at each other which ends with Daniil hitting long, but the challenger smashes his fourth and fifth ace of the match to clinch the game.
Set 1, Game 7
For a change, a Novak drop-shot that works. He gets Daniil close to the net and then lobs the ball back over Medvedev to win the point and then goes 30-0 up after some solid hitting in a rally. A strong serve follows soon after and Medvedev fails to get his return in, giving Novak three game-points to get back holding.
A poor forehand from Novak allows Medvedev a chance but Novak manages to hold on despite his opponent reading the world number one’s smash yet again. Relatively easy hold and it’s Djokovic who looks relieved right now.
Set 1, Game 6
Whoa, what a start from Daniil. Djokovic returns well but Medvedev does rather well to keep himself afloat in the rally and when he gets a Djokovic drop-shot, a run to the net and a sizzling backhand wins the Russian the opening point of the game. An ace makes it 30-0 before Djokovic exerts too much power to his backhand attempting a winner early in the rally to hit it wide.
Again, a good return from Novak but Medvedev is equal to task and forces another error from the world number one, holding to love.
Set 1, Game 5
A solid serve from Novak leads to an easy forehand winner to kick-start the game but this is followed by back to back unforced errors from the world number one. Against the run of play too.
Can Daniil take advantage of this 15-30 opening…and wow! Sensational rally next up, goes for more than two dozen shots before Novak wants to change things around with a backhand slice and hits the net.
And then Daniil, with two break-point opportunities, converts the first he gets with some brilliant defensive play. Novak has a couple of chances to smash them away but Medvedev gets to the first and Novak nets the second.
Broken back. Wow.
Set 1, Game 4
Early signs that Novak is way more tuned into this than his challenger opponent, and he starts things off in this game with an incredible winner. Medvedev responds with back to back aces, and another excellent serve gets Djokovic to hit his return long.
Finally a rally, has been a while since we saw that in this match, and once you get into a rally with Novak you know things are rarely going your way. A second rally follows but this time, Novak hits long to give Medvedev his first game.
A sigh of relief from Medvedev.
Set 1, Game 3
Novak doesn’t waste too much time in pocketing the game after that great, a quick couple of minutes to pouch a 3-0 lead to love. The champion means business.
Set 1, Game 2
A very noisy crowd sees Medvedev start off with a good serve but Djokovic is equal to the task and keeps himself in the rally for a bit before Medvedev finally shoots a winner. An early long rally results in Medvedev pulling the trigger too wide and a solid return makes the Russian do something similar yet again.
A forehand error on Djokovic’s return gives the Serb two break-points, and he saves the first with a sizzling forehand down the line. But off the second one, Djokovic is always on top of that rally and finally converts with Medvedev hitting one long.
Early break for Djokovic!
Set 1, Game 1
Here we go then, first game with Novak to serve. And it’s an ace to start things off for Novak, ominous!
A chance to return for Medvedev off the second point but Novak is fast off the blocks and forced the Russian to hit the next one wide. Djokovic then misses a clean winner but only because Medvedev is able to get to it, but that doesn’t stop him from winning the point to give him three game-points.
A backhand unforced error from Djokovic keeps Medvedev in the game but an excellent serve wide wins him the point and the game.
7.40 pm local time
Medvedev, followed by Djokovic, are out on the court now. Heard a few jeers but there’s some strong cheering from the Serbian supporters, who have come in in numbers to support the world number one.
Toss, Novak has won the toss and will serve first. Slight advantage doing that.
They will start their warm-ups now.
7.30 pm local time
Moments away from the players walking out to the middle. A fine light-show on display at the Rod Laver Arena but the real show later, one hopes, is as resplendent as this one.
7.20 pm local time
If Medvedev wins this one, he will climb to the number two spot, dislodging Rafael Nadal from there. He has already climbed up to number three displacing Dominic Thiem from there.
And it’s not been a case of a fluke turnaround given Medvedev is on a 20-match winning streak, which includes multiple wins over top-10 players. Already beaten Alexander Zverev, Matteo Berrettini, Andrey Rublev and Stefanos Tsitsipas this year.
Last season, he had gotten the better of Diego Schwartzman, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem – basically other than Roger Federer who hasn’t played in a while, Medvedev has beaten all of them.
Can he overcome Djokovic here in a best-of-five match?
7 pm local time
Hello and welcome to the men’s singles final of the 2021 Australian Open. Not too far away from the start now.
The news from Melbourne is the weather is rather cool for now, slightly overcast at 18 degrees celcius, with winds blowing at 16 km/hr. That should take away one factor, that of heat playing a part in player exhaustion, which in turn could help improve the quality of the match – not that players of that quality need too much help!
The other factor that coolish weather also slows courts down which could increase the length of rallies and push the game-time of this encounter. Don’t mind a thriller here now, do we?
Djokovic v Medvedev Preview
Whatever happens from here on (and we have our own predictions on what might happen in this match here), it’s not too often one can say the two players contesting in this Australian Open final deserve to be there. And what they, and the crowds also deserve is a hard-fought encounter after both the semifinals and the women’s final turned out to be a damp squib in many ways.
Djokovic has eight Australian Open titles to his credit and another one here will mean exactly half of his major victories would have come in one Slam. The defending champion should have, in fact, won at least one more Grand Slam title last year but for two very contrasting reasons he was successful at neither.
And then for a while it looked like another major was going to be slip away from his hands when he injured his back in one of his match against Taylor Fritz. Up two sets, the Serb looked to have done it badly while on a stretch but as the match, and the tournament have gone along, he looks to have gotten much better.
So much so, his surprise opponent in the semifinal, Aslan Karatsev was sent packing in straight sets by the roaring Serb.
Don’t let that discount Medvedev though.
Other than a sudden dip in his fortunes, mid-match against Filip Krajinovic in the third round where he gave up on his two-set lead before winding up the final set 6-0, Medvedev has been absolutely clinical in his wins.
There have been two opponents who could have, and should have halted his progress in some way, old friend Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals and Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semis. Neither even managed take a set to a tie-breaker, let alone win it.
Which is why, this could be anyone’s match, with the old cliche, the guy who minds his nerve better coming away a winner, holding true here.
Follow our live blog & updates here from 7.30 pm local time for the Djokovic v Medvedev match.
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