Daniil Medvedev battles back from two sets down against Alexander Zverev to reach Australian Open final

Daniil Medvedev recovered from two sets down for the second time this fortnight to beat bitter rival Alexander Zverev and reach his third Australian Open final.

The third seed was second best through two sets but won two tie-breaks before clinching a 5-7 3-6 7-6 (4) 7-6 (5) 6-3 victory after midnight on Rod Laver Arena.

It capped a dramatic day of tennis following Jannik Sinner's upset of Novak Djokovic in the other semi-final to guarantee a first-time champion at Melbourne Park.

Having lost to Djokovic in 2021 and Rafael Nadal from two sets up in 2022, Medvedev will hope this is finally his year.

"I was a little bit lost but during the third set I started saying that, if I lose this match, I want to be proud of myself, I want to fight for every point," he said. "I’m very proud.

"Physically and mentally it’s tough, five sets. Many times in the fifth I was not strong enough. One month ago I wanted to change a little bit to try to be even more strong mentally. I’m still yet far from being perfect but I’m trying."

The Russian, who will contest a sixth slam final, trailed Emil Ruusuvuori by two sets in the second round in a contest that finished at 3.39am, and also needed five sets to defeat Hubert Hurkacz in a gruelling quarter-final.

Zverev came through two five-set matches in his first four rounds, winning deciding tie-breaks against Lukas Klein and Cameron Norrie, but stepped up a gear to knock out Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals and continued in the same vein here.

Five double faults from Medvedev contributed to two breaks of serve in his opening three games but Zverev was unable to capitalise on his lead, Medvedev breaking the sixth seed when he served for the set as the rallies became longer and longer.

Zverev broke again