Daniil Medvedev almost had the Australia Open 2022 title in his pocket as he was leading by two sets against Rafael Nadal in the final. The Russian also had a break in the fourth set but the Spaniard snatched the win with his brilliant never-give-up attitude.
Nadal won the third and fourth sets to level the score and then won the fifth set in the tiebreaker to win his 21st Grand Slam title. The Russian recalled his narrow loss against Nadal and revealed he felt terrible after losing the big final.
During the press conference ahead of the Adelaide International, Medvedev said, “Well, I felt terrible. I felt absolutely terrible,” he stated. “Again, the thing about life and tennis is that you have to get over it, try to learn from it because you cannot change the past.”
Medvedev added he has suffered some tough losses in his career but he has managed to find his way back.
“I had some tough moments in my career,” the 26-year-old added. “When I say tough moments, tough losses – I know a lot of losses in a row, and I always managed to find a way back. So I’m sure I’m going to find the way back to an even higher level than I was playing maybe last year.”
The Russian stressed that he wants to go one step higher in the upcoming Australian Open than what he managed in 2022.
“Right now, yeah, I’m looking forward to the Australian Open again, and I want to do better than last year. That’s the goal,” asserted Medvedev.
Meanwhile, Medvedev received a walkover against Lorenzo Sonego, after the Italian had to withdraw when the Russian was leading by 7-6, 2-1.
On the other hand, Nadal has revealed he wants to keep playing at the top level and squashed retirement rumors. However, Nadal lost both of his matches against Cameron Norrie and Alex de Minaur in the United Cup.