Daniil Medvedev scored an epic to seal his pass to the third round of the Australian Open. The Russian had to come back from two sets down in his match against Finnish Emil Ruusuvuori, whom he defeated 3-6, 6-7(1), 6-4, 7-6(1), 6-0) in a four and a half hour battle that ended around 4 am local time, in what was the second longest day in tournament history.
The 2022 finalist started badly, adding errors until they were 3-0 downa disadvantage he was unable to overcome against an old rival who never wavered to close out the first set 6-3.
The second set started exactly the same. An early break put the Finn in front, although this time the former world number 1 was able to get up another gear to take the set and go up 5-3 and serve.
There the worst face of the Russian reappeared, failing miserably again, allowing Ruusuvuori to level the score and take the set to an unprecedented tiebreak. The 5-0 start with which the Finn started was more than enough to tie the second set and put the third seed of the tournament on the ropes.
Going to the locker room to change clothes was impressive for Medvedevwho began to appear more solid from the bottom, with fewer errors at the beginning of the third set.
Two consecutive breaks helped him to reach a 4-1 lead that seemed certain, but he again showed his usual irregularity to let his rival tighten the score (4-3).
That was the end of the Russian’s concessions, which ended up closing out the set 6-4. and marking ground against a Ruusuvuori with less sparkle and success starting to show the pressure.
The fourth set began as the third ended, with Medvedev who broke his rival’s serve and put things on track until it reached 4-2. At that moment, Medvedev experienced his umpteenth disconnection which, in this case, cost him a break that brought the set to a tiebreak.
Unlike what happened in the second set, now it was the Finn who lost his concentration just the beginning and gave him a comfortable income that Daniil did not waste. 7-1 and the match would be decided in an unprecedented fifth set.
A stormy start by Medvedev allowed him to go up 3-0an income that a physically exhausted Ruusuvuori could never surpass.
Backed by a good serve, Medvedev took the lead to close out the match with a resounding 6-0 and seal his ticket for the third round, where he will face Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, who defeated Frenchman Hugo Grenier without too much trouble 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 .
Source: La Verdad
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