Final showdown
At Australian Open, Djokovic chases 18th Slam, Medvedev 1st
Novak Djokovic lost his first career Grand Slam final at the US Open. Then he won his second, which came at the Australian Open.
And look where he is now, more than a dozen years later: One victory from a ninth championship at Melbourne Park and his 18th major title overall, which would put him two behind Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for the most by a man in tennis history.
Daniil Medvedev also lost his first career Grand Slam final at the US Open. And now he will try to win in his second try, which comes at the Australian Open on Sunday - against Djokovic.
"I know that to beat him, you need to just show your best tennis, be at your best physically, maybe four or five hours, and be at your best mentally, maybe for five hours," Medvedev said.
"I would say to win a Slam, especially against somebody (like) Novak, is already a big motivation, and I don't think there is anything that can make it bigger."
It is an intergenerational showdown - Serbia's Djokovic turns 34 in May; Russia's Medvedev just turned 25 - and another in the simmering standoff between the Big Three and the next wave of up-and-coming players hoping to supplant the group that has dominated for more than 15 years.
Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have combined to win 14 of the past 15 majors (Dominic Thiem at last year's U.S. Open was the exception), and 57 of the last 69.
"Spice it up a little bit," by adding a new name to the list of Slam champs, suggested Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 22year-old who came back from two sets down to eliminate Nadal in the quarterfinals before losing to Medvedev 6-4, 62, 7-5 in the semifinals.
The No. 1-seeed Djokovic is 17-0 in Oz Open semis and finals, making him nearly as much of a lock on the blue hard courts of Melbourne Park as Nadal is on the red clay courts of Roland Garros.