The mens final has been set and wow did we as viewers go through many emotions while watching both of those men’s semi-finals. Day 13 was an amazing day to show what tennis is all about.

The first men’s semi-final was between 1st seed, Djokovic, and 4th seed, Sinner. The last few meetings have gone the Italian’s way however the last time they met in a grand slam was at Wimbledon in the semi-finals and it went the way of Djokovic after Sinner had a 2 set to love lead. The match started and Sinner started exactly how he needed to. He played aggressive with little errors and forced Djokovic into a position he did not enjoy. This tactic worked and he raced to a 2 set to love lead, winning the first 2 sets 6-1; 6-2. Demolition from the top-seeded Italian. The 3rd set looked as if it could get away from Djokovic early as Sinner brought up some break points in the opening game of the 3rd set. Djokovic managed to survive and that got him going a little bit and he started to make it a match. Sinner continued on his merry way in the set and after 12 consecutive holds we needed a tiebreak to seal the 3rd set. The tiebreak was nip and tuck with both players having mini-breaks throughout the tiebreak. It was Sinner who notched up not only a set point but a match point at 6-5. Djokovic forced him into a forehand error and we were swapping at 6-6. Djokovic then one the next 2 points to get the crowd going and to make the match go to 4 sets. This did not deter Sinner in any way and the Italian broke the Serb early in the 4th set. He managed to hold this break till the end and went on to take the set 6-3 and with it the match ending Djokovic’s unbeaten run of 33 matches on Rod Laver court. Sinner also became the first player to not face a break point against Djokovic in a completed grand slam match. What a performance from the 22 year old.

The 2nd match of the day was between 6th seed, Zverev who had knocked out Alcaraz in the quarter’s and 3rd seed, Medvedev. Both players had been on court for over 13 hours to this point so none of them had an advantage in that sense as the match began. Medvedev started the match the slower of the 2 players and Zverev capitalized on that as he went up an early break. And then the German made it a double break to lead 4-1 in the opening set. Medvedev broke back to make it 4-2 and held serve to make it 4-3 before Zverev made it 5-3. Medvedev forced the German to serve the opener out and the 6th seed failed to do so and we were level again at 5-5. Unfortunately for Medvedev his serve was still not firing and he was broken again at 5-5 and then Zverev held to take the opener 7-5. Zverev knew ,after a few 40+ shot rallies at the end of the 1st set, that he needed to shorten the points and that is exactly what he executed in the 2nd set. The German taking the set 6-3 and now led by 2 sets to love. Medvedev went off for a change of clothes and a think and came back playing better tennis. The 3rd seed managing to get the set to a tiebreak and managed to then take the tiebreak 7-4 to take the match into a 4th set. This now became worrying for Zverev because these are positions which Medvedev loves to be in. Once again the 4th set, it was nip and tuck and once again we headed into a tiebreak. A lucky forehand shank dropshot return from Medvedev at 5-5 meant that Medvedev led 6-5 and had a serve to come. 1 ace later and the match was going to 5 sets. This now looked dangerous for Zverev who was a tiebreak away from winning this match in 3 sets. And it proved very dangerous as Medvedev was the first to break in the 5th game to lead 3-2. 4 holds later and now it was the 3rd seed who was just a game away from the match at 5-3. Medvedev didn’t want to serve it and broke to win the 5th set and the match. What an incredible match and what an incredible comeback from the 3rd seed. He will now play in his 3rd Australian Open final in 4 years. This time it is not against one of the big 3 but rather against Sinner. Can he use his experience in grand slam finals to beat Sinner who looks unbeatable till this point in the tournament.

Wow a lot has changed in the fantasy leaderboard with the loss of Zverev and Djokovic. There is a lot of red teams now who unfortunately are no longer in the tournament. Congratulations to ‘Match Point’ who with Zverev losing is out and therefore is the winner of the wooden spoon.

There has not been any huge changes to the top 5 on day 13. ‘Tennis Addicts’ remain in the lead but now the lead is just 4 points over ‘Lorna’s Lucky 13’. ‘Faulty Feet’ swap positions with ‘Serve with Eish’ so now they sit in 3rd and ‘Serve with Eish’ move down to 4th. ‘Aussie Guess’ seems to love 5th and still sit in 5th but they are not alone as ‘Left is Best’ move up 3 positions to sit in a joint 5th place.

Enjoy the ladies final between 12th seed Zheng and 2nd seed and defending champion Sabalenka!

Jared

Jared matriculated in 2020 from Wynberg Boys High School in beautiful Cape Town, South Africa. His passion for tennis afforded him the opportunity of travelling to Europe. He is a quizmaster and a fantasy organiser.