Australian Open 2022: Daniil Medvedev puts in Novak-esque show to outlast Auger-Alisiamme in 5-set epic

Top seed Daniil Medvedev won an epic 5-set thriller against 9th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime to progress to the Australian Open 2022 semi-final on Wednesday. The Russian superstar, who won the US Open last year, battled from 2 sets down in an enthralling performance and crush the hopes of 21-year-old Auger-Alisiamme who did most things right in the men’s singles quarter-final in the evening session at the Rod Laver Arena.

Daniil Medvedev saved a match point in the 4th set and fought back to complete a stunning 6-7(4) 3-6 7-6(2) 7-5 6-4 victory in a match that extended to 4 hours and 42 minutes.

Medvedev was looking out of sorts in the first two sets as he was in danger of crashing out early but the World No. 2 took cue from Novak Djokovic to outlast the Canadian challenger.

When asked how he managed to save the match point in the 4th set, Medvedev said: “I have no idea”.

Elaborating on how he came back from 2 sets down, Medvedev said he took a moment to wonder how Novak Djokovic, the World No. 1 who was deported from Australia ahead of the Australian Open, would have handled the situation.

“I was not playing my best and Felix was playing unbelievable. He was all over me and I do not know what to do. So I thought to myself – and some people won’t like this – what would Novak do?” Medvedev said even as Melbourne Park crowd began to boo him.

A word of warning from @DaniilMedwed #AusOpen #AO2022 #AOinterview pic.twitter.com/HcIFGl954o

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 26, 2022

Djokovic had divided the tennis community as he arrived in Melbourne for the Australian Open 2022 with a medical exemption for Covid-19 vaccine. However, he was reported from Australia despite the Serb winning a court case against the initial cancellation of his visa over lack of evidence for medical exemption to the vaccine which was made mandatory to feature in the season’s first Grand Slam tournament.

Medvedev won a 4th set-tie breaker even the roof at the Rod Laver Arena was closed due to rain.

“I just fight to the last point and manage to raise my level for the next game. I played better [when the roof was closed]. My hand was slippery [when the roof was open] so the roof closing helped my hand be less sweaty,” he said.

“I just thought, ‘Okay, I’m going to make him win it.’ If he wants to win it, he’s going to have to fight till the past point. Even if it’s 5-0, 40-0 for him, try to make him tired for the next match.”

I AM GOING TO GIVE IT EVERYTHING: MEDVEDEV

Medvedev simply refused to lie down as he overturned a two-set deficit for only the second time in his career to set up a Friday semi-final against Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas. It will be a rematch of last year’s Australian Open semi-final wherein Medvedev defeated Tsitsipas to reach the final.

“It’s the semi-final of a grand slam so even if I am tired I am going to give it everything. Last year I managed to play pretty well. Let’s hope we can have a good match,” Medvedev said.

Ninth seed Auger-Aliassime, 21, was the dominant player in the first set and despite a wobble when serving at 6-5 he won a tiebreak courtesy of some uncharacteristic Medvedev errors.

Auger-Aliassime cruised through the second set against a subdued Medvedev to move to within a set of a first career win against the Russian and a second Grand Slam semi-final.

Medvedev was hanging on towards the end of the third set as Auger-Aliassime sensed victory but managed to close out a tiebreak after a shower caused the roof to be closed. Auger-Aliassime had a match point in the 10th game of the fourth set after a Medvedev double-fault but the Russian responded with huge serving to stay alive.

Medvedev then broke serve in the next game and held his own to extend the match into a decider — finally seizing the initiative with an early break as the match entered its fifth hour. Auger-Aliassime had one last chance when he earned a break back point trailing 4-3 but Medvedev snatched away the opportunity with a timely ace.

Serving for the match, Medvedev showed some cracks in his armour as he went down 15-40, but rattled off four consecutive points to reach the last-four at Melbourne Park.

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