Nole is through to his first Adelaide final in 16 years.
Top seed Novak Djokovic defeated Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-4 at the Adelaide International 1 on Saturday in a highly anticipated semi-final showdown.
The 35-year-old Serbian ace produced a stellar display to beat the Russian third seed for the ninth time in 13 encounters.
Novak broke once in each set and saved all three break points he faced to seal the win in one hour and 29 minutes. He also won 89 percent of his first serve points.
Leading 5-2 in the opening set, Novak was forced to leave the court for a medical timeout.
“Thankfully it was nothing too serious. If it was, I wouldn’t be able to continue, so I just tried with a medical timeout, some anti-inflammatories and kind of settled in after a few games,” Djokovic said. “I was just trying to keep the momentum going and not allow him to break my serve. I think that was the key, that eventually I would get a chance. I think the longer the match went, the more my hamstring was warmer and bothering me less, so hopefully for tomorrow it will be all fine.”
Novak was putting constant pressure on Medvedev, who double faulted on break point in each set.
“With Daniil it’s never easy. You always have to change the pace, mix up the serve, the return position, rallies, try to make him uncomfortable. So it’s really a cat-and-mouse game in a way every single match. He’s one of the best servers that we have in the world. Definitely on the courts like this where it’s really quick and the ball kind of skids through the surface, it’s tough to play him. But he made two double faults on two break points, both first and second sets. I knew that in those moments he might go for more so I was kind of changing my position and it worked.”
Match statistics: aces (5-5), double faults (3-2), total points won (61-48)
In the title clash on Sunday at 08:30 CET, Djokovic will face off world no.33 Sebastian Korda for the ATP 250 event trophy. It will be their first career meeting.
The American led Yoshihito Nishioka 7-6, 1-0 when the Japanese retired due to an injury.
Novak, the 21-time Grand Slam champion, will be bidding for a 92nd career title and first in 2023.
Photo: EPA
