Third-seed Daniil Medvedev takes on a high-flying Jannik Sinner for the Australian Open title on Sunday.

Having lost his first six meetings with Medvedev, Jannik Sinner turned the tide by winning three matches in a row during the second half of 2023. The Italian ended his six-game losing streak to Medvedev at the China Open a few months ago and is now aiming to win their most important clash so far.

Remarkably, all of their nine previous meetings were on hard courts, with four finals (all in 2023) between them. Medvedev had beat Sinner at the Rotterdam Open and Miami Masters in the first half of last season, while the Italian got the better of his Russian counterpart in Beijing and Vienna last autumn. 

Jannik Sinner also claimed a 6-3, 6-7, 6-1 victory over the Russian in the ATP Finals semi-final in their most recent meeting. 

With his latest victory at Melbourne Park, Sinner has already etched his name in history as the first Italian to reach the final of the Australian Open. Now, he's bidding to become the first Italian male to win a Grand Slam title since Adriano Panatta at the French Open in 1976. 

Jannik Sinner arguably played out the best tennis of his career to dismantle Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open semi-finals. Beating the 24-time Grand Slam champion three times on hard courts within a couple of months only is an accomplishment that even the Big-Three players could only dream of. Nevertheless, Sinner unlocked it in an impressive manner. 

In fact, the young Italian joins the elite company of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer as only the third player to have defeated the Serb in a Grand Slam, ATP Finals and the Davis Cup.

The Italian actually continued his remarkable form from the end of 2023, when he won titles in Beijing and Vienna, where he beat his current opponent - Daniil Medvedev - in both matches. Sinner also went on to reach the final of the ATP Finals and guided Italy to the country's second Davis Cup title (first one after 1976).

His singles victories over Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands, Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Australia's Alex de Minaur were a perfect end to a remarkable campaign. But the best is yet to come, it seems. 

The 22-year-old boasts a near-perfect fortnight in Melbourne, only dropping one set en route to the biggest match of his career. Sinner saw off Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands, Jesper de Jong of the Netherlands, Sebastian Baez of Argentina, Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev (both of Russia) before beating World No. 1 Novak Djokovic to improve to 6-0 for the season.

Sinner dropped his first set of the year against Novak Djokovic, when he lost a third-set tiebreak. However, the Italian never faced a breakpoint throughout the match to emphasize his excellent form. 

Last but not least, Sinner boasts a solid record against fellow Top-10 players over the past couple of months. He had won 11 out of 12 such matches - since the conclusion of the Wimbledon Championships - and the only defeat he conceded was against Djokovic at the ATP Finals. 

This marks the most impressive improvement of his career, though he has been on an upward trajectory since breaking through on the main tour in 2020. Before the aforementioned period, Jannik Sinner's record against Top-10 players was far from good (13-26) with just two wins coming in semifinal or final matches combined.  

Having reached his sixth Grand Slam final, Daniil Medvedev is bidding to finally lift the Australian Open title after two unsuccessful attempts - finishing as the runner-up to Novak Djokovic in 2021 and Rafael Nadal in 2022. The second one, in particular, was really heartbreaking as Medvedev wasted a two-sets lead against Nadal. 

Two years later, Medvedev is once again allowing himself to dream, having the opportunity to face a non-Big Three player in a Major final for the first time in his career. He also faced Novak Djokovic in the US Open final last year but the Russian lost in straight sets (as he did at the Australian Open in 2021). 

On the positive side, the valuable experience gained from going head-to-head with these tennis greats is set to be a massive asset for Medvedev this Sunday. 

Daniil Medvedev is now eager to become the first Russian champion in Melbourne since Marat Safin defeated home favorite Lleyton Hewitt way back in 2005. Coincidentally, that year also marks the last time no Big Three members were involved in the championship match at the Australian Open.

The rivalry between Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev added considerable spice to their semifinal clash, thus making it a crucial must-not-lost match for either of them. And Medvedev emerged victorious in a manner that likely stung his opponent deeply. 

Sascha Zverev won the opening two sets but Medvedev fought back to win the subsequent two sets in the tiebreaker, and eventually dominated the decider. A remarkable comeback 5-7, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-3 victory in over four hours and 20 minutes that further solidified his mental dominance in his head-to-head series with the German. 

Furthermore, both Medvedev and Zverev have already undergone a grueling campaign over the past fortnight at Melbourne Park but they still managed to exert themselves to the utmost, ensuring that the winner would be at a disadvantage in the Australian Open final.

All in all, only one of Medvedev's six matches so far has concluded in straight sets - his third round win over Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, and twice he was forced to mount a comeback from a two-set deficit.

The Russian was on verge of a second round exit when he suddenly raised his game to ultimately beat Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland (3-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 6-0) and was dragged into another challenging five-setter against ninth-seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland in the quarter-finals. 

We can easily say that both players deserve the Australian Open title for different reasons. Medvedev and Sinner are two of the best players on the ATP tour and, what a surprise, have very few loopholes in their game.

With Major finals experience on his side, Medvedev should fancy his chances of beating the odds. He once again proved his physical and mental resilience throughout the tournament and he's ready for another tense showdown against his Italian counterpart. 

However, Jannik Sinner displayed his elevated level of maturity and remained composed even after the lost set against Djokovic. And becoming the first one to overcome the Djoker in the Australian Open last four is quite a statement. 

The Italian is clearly the more consistent and less fatigued player in Melbourne, so expect him to clinch a hard-fought victory at Rod Laver Arena on Sunday.