Daniil Medvedev to meet Rafael Nadal in Australian Open final
Melbourne, Jan 28: Daniil Medvedev reeled off the last five games to beat Stefanos Tsitispas 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in a heated Australian Open semifinal and continue his bid for back-to-back major titles.
The second-seeded Medvedev will play Rafael Nadal in the final on Sunday as he continues his bid to be the first man in the Open era to win his second Grand Slam title at the next major tournament.
Nadal is bidding for a men's-record 21st Grand Slam singles title after beating Matteo Berrettini 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. Nadal shares the men's record at 20 major titles with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
Medvedev had to save a match point and rally from two sets down in the quarterfinals late Wednesday and had another emotional match against Tsitsipas two days later. He yelled at the chair umpire after dropping serve in the second set and demanded that Tsitsipas be cautioned for receiving coaching from his father in the crowd.
Medvedev lost the set, took a five-minute break and returned with more composure.
He converted a crucial service break late in the third set and he won the last five games to wrap it up.
Medevedev also beat Tsitsipas in the semifinals at Melbourne Park last year before losing to Djokovic in the final.
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Drone crashes near Erbil airport in northern Iraq, Al Jazeera reports
Erbil: A drone has crashed near Erbil International Airport in northern Iraq, local media reports said, as cited by Al Jazeera.
According to the reports, a large plume of smoke was seen rising from the area where the drone struck. No further details are currently available.
Al Jazeera also reported that its correspondent reported that Erbil airport, located in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, was targeted twice as part of Iran’s response to attacks by Israel and the United States. Local reports cited by the news network added that air defences in Iraq intercepted the drone attacks.
