Australian Open – Daniil Medvedev – Félix Auger-Aliassime: The Russian saves a ball in the match and qualifies

What character! Daniil Medvedev has been a Grand Slam champion for a few months and it showed in the Australian Open quarter-finals on Wednesday. Dominated quite clearly for two and a half sets by a great Félix Auger-Aliassime, the world number 2 clung on as if his life depended on it to have the last word after five sets (6-7, 3-6, 7-6 , 7-5, 6-4) and 4h42 of a superb fight. By the way, the Russian with nerves of steel even dismissed a match point. He will challenge Stefanos Tsitsipas for a place in the final in a “remake” of their half last year.

The pill will be hard to swallow for Félix Auger-Aliassime. The Canadian thought he had the right end, thanks to a rather exceptional quality of play, now under the extinguisher a Daniil Medvedev visibly without solution against this offensive tennis. But the winner of the US Open folded without breaking, letting the storm pass and taking advantage of the (very) gradual decline of his opponent to afford his 12th consecutive victory in a Major.

Impressive, “F2A” may have missed his chance at the start of the 3rd set

He will therefore only have missed a small point for “FAA” to validate the most significant success of his young career. But will he have any great regrets with hindsight? On this famous match point at 5-4 in his favor in the fourth set, Daniil Medvedev hit his fastest service of the match (213 km / h) on the outside line. Difficult in these circumstances to blame yourself for anything. No, if the Canadian had to seal the game, he probably should have done so at the start of the third set when he got a break point at 1-1 against a Russian then in great difficulty and close to K.- O.

It must be said that Auger-Aliassime had not given him much breathing space until then. Constantly aggressive, frequently taking the ball half-volley from the back to deprive Medvedev of time, the seeded number 9 delivered the perfect match tactically without giving the impression of overplaying. The precision in the service of the Canadian was particularly diabolical (83% of firsts during the 2nd set), using wisely the sliced ​​and short crossed zones to put his rival to the torture at the raise.

Medvedev had nerves of steel

But Medvedev did not let go, far from it. Relying himself on his quality of service in this pivotal third set, he pushed Auger-Aliassime to the tie-break – interrupted by the way for a few minutes by the deployment of the roof due to the rain -, managing to make him play the shot more often. Less sharp, the Canadian made some inaccuracies, finally yielding fairly quickly 7 points to 2. Medvedev then raised his fist, convinced that the match had changed its soul, which the sequel confirmed.

Because if Auger-Aliassime got a semi-final ball in the fourth set, it was Medvedev who had regained control of operations in the exchange, venturing even further into the net. Fresher, he went to the end of his crazy comeback, even if “F2A” never stopped fighting. But prodigious under pressure, the Russian was able to save no less than six break points in this final act, including two on the very last game of the game. When it wasn’t a service winner, he pulled a sharp forehand attack out of his hat. To finish him off, you’ll have to run over his body. Stefanos Tsitsipas is warned.