It was a tactical move that left Jannik Sinner and many tennis pundits “shocked.”
Daniil Medvedev, a human brick wall with a remarkable ability to prolong rallies to marathon length, decided to, as Jim Courier branded it, go “nuclear” with his aggressiveness from the start.
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“A couple of matches ago against Hubert Hurkacz he stood in close, which is different for him,” Jim Courier told Nine.
“Normally he is five metres deep on the first serve and three on the second, he is standing close and taking this on.
“He’s gone nuclear on his returns.”
Courier’s remark echoed what recently-retired Australian tennis star John Millman picked up on when he hit with Medvedev prior to the final.
According to BBC commentator David Law, Millman claimed Medvedev “was really upping the power compared to what he expected” and believed the Russian would “be a lot more aggressive” compared to the semi final against Alexander Zverev.
Medvedev’s unusual positioning on the return of serve wasn’t the only aspect of his game that flew in the face of his typical approach as he raced out to a two-set lead to start the men’s final.
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The Russian blasted 14 winners in the first set compared to Sinner’s five, a complete contrast given how powerful the latter had been in his groundstrokes up until the final.
Additionally, Medvedev had shown a tendency to lock himself into long rallies of nine shots or more, although he often won those.
But when it came to rallies of four shots or less, he had largely struggled whereas Sinner shined.
However, in the first set, it was Medvedev who dominated the short passages of play, winning 15 of the rallies lasting four shots or less while Sinner won 10.
A similar trend followed in the second set, although 14 unforced errors from Sinner played a supporting role.
Medvedev once again was ahead on rallies lasting four shots or less, winning 13 points to Sinner’s 12.
But he was significantly ahead in rallies lasting five to eight shots with 16 points, while Sinner had only seven.
To highlight just how significant of a contrast this was for Sinner, he won 80 rallies of four shots or less across the entire match in his semi final against Novak Djokovic, who won just 43 of those.
Speaking on BBC commentary, Law said Sinner looked “bereft” and “shocked” while Medvedev clubbed shots across the baseline.
Courier speculated the bold approach from Medvedev could have been a result of fatigue given the significant difference in court time between the two over the past fortnight.
Prior to the final, Medvedev had clocked a staggering 20 hours and 33 minutes of court time, while Sinner had played just 14 hours and 44 minutes, dropping just the one set the entire time.
“We won’t know until after this match whether this strategy from Medvedev, which is outside of his normal comfort zone, this ultra aggressive return position and aggressive on the forehand and backhand, is it because he is tired or is it because he thinks it’s the right strategy for Sinner?” Courier asked.
“If he is doing this because he doesn’t think he can play long points, he may have actually stumbled upon a good strategy.”
However, Medvedev’s marathon stint on the court over the past two weeks soon took its toll as Sinner gained the ascendancy.
In the third set, Sinner reverted to type, winning 20 points in rallies of up to four shots while Medvedev won just 13, also highlighting how the match had morphed into a battle of big serves and powerful strokes.
Medvedev continued to wilt as the match wore on, with Sinner coming alive in the fourth set.
Sinner clubbed 15 winners to Medvedev’s eight but also showed he had plenty left in the tank to win 14 points from the nine-plus shot rallies, pushing the contest into a fifth set.
That fifth set was also Medvedev’s 31st of the tournament, the most any player had played in the Open era at a single grand slam.
It proved to be a bridge too far for the Russian as Sinner beat his rival at his own game.
Although Sinner and Medvedev were relatively level on points that lasted four or less shots, the Italian won nine points on rallies lasting nine shots or longer to his rival winning just three.
The fact Sinner had dropped only one set prior to the final undoubtedly played a factor in being able to dig deep for those lengthy rallies in the final set and press his foot down on the accelerator.
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