Danill Medvedev is unsinkable. The Russian, world number 2 and seed number 1 in Melbourne, came from nowhere to win in five sets against Félix Auger-Aliassime 6-7 (4/7), 3-6, 7-6 (7 /2), 7-5, 6-4, and join Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Australian Open semi-final.
“Led 2 sets to 0, he played incredibly well, he was everywhere, and I couldn’t produce my best tennis. So I thought, “What would Novak do?” And I decided to make it work. If he wanted to win this match, he would have to go get it, point by point, ”commented the Russian.
And for 4:42, Medvedev and Auger-Aliassime gave spectators a tennis hooray. “One of the biggest games of the season,” predicted former champion Jim Courier in the preamble to his interview with the winner. Even at 5-4 in the decisive set, when he served to conclude, Medvedev still had to save two break points because his opponent still did not want to let go.
“I couldn’t get my racquet tight”
An event probably changed the course of the game: when the roof of the Rod Laver court was closed because of the rain at 2-1 for Medvedev in the tie-break of the 3rd set.
“I was sweating so much I couldn’t get my racquet tight on serve. And when the roof was closed, it was cooler. And I felt that the match was rocking, ”acknowledged Medvedev. But in the 4th set, he still had to save a match point on his serve. “I don’t really know how I turned the game around, but on the match point I saved, it was thanks to my first serve. If it hadn’t passed, who knows what would have happened,” Medvedev stressed.