Daniil Medvedev’s Coach Reveals What Went Wrong Against Novak Djokovic in Australian Open 2021 Final

Daniil Medvedev’s coach Gilles Cervara has opened up on why his pupil couldn’t stand up to the Novak Djokovic challenge in the final of this year’s Australian Open.

Continuing his unbeaten run from last year, the Russian stormed into the final making short work of opponents barring the five-setter against Serb Filip Krajinovic in the third round.

Daniil Medvedev was handed a straight-set rout by Novak Djokovic in Australian Open final

However, his game came brutally unstuck against the top-seed in the title showdown as he seemingly had no answers to Djokovic’s all-round dominance on the way to lifting an unprecedented ninth career Australian Open title.

It was the second time after the 2019 US Open final against Rafael Nadal that Medvedev came close to lifting his maiden Grand Slam title but failed.

Weighing on the Russian’s defeat in the final at Melbourne Park, Cervara said it was a combination of several factors that cost him the match.

Djokovic, as has been widely reported, decided not to withdraw from the year’s first Grand Slam after suffering an abdominal muscle tear during his grueling third-round win over American Taylor Fritz.

Showing grit and gumption befitting a champion, the Serb battled on and smashed the pain barrier on his way to reaching the final.

Daniil Medvedev’s coach said he simply couldn’t match up to Novak Djokovic’s level of excellence in Australian Open final

And Cervara reckons that it’s his opponent’s superior level of motivation and desire to win the title that Medvedev couldn’t handle in the final.

“He was at a level of excellence,” the coach said.

On where Medvedev went wrong, Cervara added that it’s the attributes that go beyond one’s playing skills where the Russian came up short in the big game.

“We are talking about the right level of energy, soul and fire to have within you on these occasions. Unfortunately, in the final all these things were not of a high level…,” the coach said.

Medvedev’s rout of Greek World Number 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semi-final had raised hopes of the Russian ending Djokovic’s dream run at Melbourne Park or, at least, taking him to five sets.

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However, as his coach rightly pointed out, the Russian seemed out of sorts and wilted under the Serb’s dominating display.