Novak Djokovic heads into Australian Open final unbeaten on eight previous occasions

Melbourne, Feb 21 (AFP/APP): Novak Djokovic heads into Sunday‘s Australian Open final unbeaten on eight previous occasions in the title match, but knowing he will need to be at his mental and physical best to overcome red-hot Russian Daniil Medvedev The Serbian world number one has had to battle injury and extract new levels of determination just to get to the final.

An abdominal injury in the third round put him on the brink of an early exit and left him unable to train between matches. But after his semi-final win over another Russian, Aslan Karatsev, Djokovic reported he felt fitter than at any time during the Melbourne fortnight On Sunday night he will face an entirely different challenge against “chess player” Medvedev — the form man of tennis who is on a 20-match winning streak. Medvedev, the world number four, is unbeaten since last November, including a straight-sets drubbing of the Serb at the ATP Finals in London.

“He’s just so solid. Also, I heard (commentator) Jim Courier calling him a master chess player because of the way he tactically positions himself on the court, and it’s true,” Djokovic said. “You know, he’s definitely a very smart tennis player.”