The fact Jannik Sinner has spent six less hours on court than Daniil Medvedev could tip the odds in his favour to win the title in Melbourne, according to John McEnroe.
Having been taken to five sets three times throughout the fortnight, Medvedev has spent a gruelling 20 hours and 33 minutes on court in comparison to Sinner’s 14 hours, 44 minutes.
The pair will go head-to-head in Sunday’s final, with the Russian bidding for a second Grand Slam title and the Italian chasing his first.
‘’I already thought of Daniil Medvedev as a chess master, a brilliant strategist, he did it once again [in the semi-final] - he shifted gears, changed his return position, started attacking more, serving bigger,’’ Seven-time major champion McEnroe told Eurosport.
“He did everything to get back into the match. But he’s played three five setters - Sinner has lost one set.
‘’So this would be truly remarkable if Medvedev can rise to the occasion once more, he’s got to be hurting physically.
"But I sort of thought that against Zverev, that the difference was that Zverev was hurting and it caught up to him as the match wore on.
‘’But Sinner will be fresh and that is the difference to me.
‘’If he [Medvedev] pulls this off, I’ll have way more respect.’’
Former world No. 1 Boris Becker echoed McEnroe’s beliefs, acknowledging that the Italian has dropped just the one set en route to the title match.
‘’I think Sinner is the favourite, especially if you look at Medvedev's playing time so far,’’ Becker said.
‘’He's played over 20 hours of tennis so far. Sinner has always come through in three sets until the semi-finals."
Medvedev will head into the final with an advantage as he currently leads the pair’s ATP Lexus Head2Headseries 6-3.
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