Account
Australian Open 2022: Men's Final TV Coverage, Live Stream and Pick
January 29, 2022
Daniil Medvedev broke up the dominance of the Big Three of men's tennis when he won his first major at the 2021 U.S. Open.
Medvedev can pick up the rare back-to-back major titles that do not belong to Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer if he beats Nadal in the 2022 Australian Open men's singles final.
Only once in the last 12 years have two players who are not Djokovic, Nadal or Federer won consecutive majors. Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka won the final two majors of 2016.
Medvedev is also looking to become the first Russian man to win in Melbourne since Marat Safin in 2005. Safin's triumph Down Under came one major before Nadal took his first Grand Slam championship.
Nadal has a chance to take a lead over Djokovic and Federer on the list of the most men's singles titles in Grand Slam history.
The three-way tie at 20 titles will be hard to break since Nadal is 1-4 in Australian Open title matches.
Men's Singles Final Info
Date: Sunday, January 30
Start Time: 3:30 a.m. ET
TV: ESPN
Live Stream: ESPN+ or ESPN app
Pick
Daniil Medvedev over Rafael Nadal in 4 Sets
Medvedev is far and away the better hard-court player than Nadal.
The 25-year-old Russian flexed his dominance on the surface when he beat Djokovic to capture the 2021 U.S. Open title.
Medvedev reached the final in each of the last three hard-court majors. He came into Melbourne as the favorite after Djokovic was ruled ineligible following the hearing over his visa status.
Medvedev defeated Djokovic in straight sets last fall in New York, and he fought Nadal in a five-set battle in the 2019 U.S. Open final.
Most of Nadal's major triumphs have come at the French Open or Wimbledon. He has five hard-court titles, and just one of them came Down Under.
Nadal last won the Australian Open in 2009, and he struggled against Djokovic, Federer and Wawrinka in his four championship losses in Melbourne.
Nadal's last final loss in Australia was a straight-set defeat at the hands of Djokovic three years ago.
The sixth-seeded Spaniard ran into a bit of trouble in the last two rounds. Denis Shapovalov took two sets off him in the quarterfinals, and Matteo Berrettini won a single set against him in the semifinals.
Nadal can't afford any mistakes against Medvedev, who looked sharp in his four-set win over Stefanos Tsitsipas in the last round.
Medvedev lost the second set to Tsitsipas and the first two sets of his quarterfinal match with Felix Auger-Aliassime, but he displayed terrific closing skill in both of those matches.
The No. 2 seed only lost five games to Tsitsipas and turned the tide of the Auger-Aliassime match with a third-set tiebreak win.
Medvedev can bank on that bounce-back skill if he loses a set to Nadal inside Rod Laver Arena.
In most situations against one of the Big Three, an argument could be made that Medvedev would feel more pressure in the championship match.
However, that may not be the case since he already conquered Djokovic and had some success in a final versus Nadal.
Nadal is facing pressure to win his 21st major and win for the first time in Australia since 2009 on his less preferred surface.
Medvedev has everything in his game to take down Nadal, and that should help him prevail Sunday.