Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena was witness to a match of epic resilience as Russia’s Daniil Medvedev squared off against ninth seed, the Canadian pro, Felix Auger-Aliassime in the Australian Open quarter-finals. 

The match went on for five sets but Medvedev held his own against the skilled opponent, walking away with the win after going down in the first two sets. The scores stand at 7-6, 6-3, 6-7, 5-7, and 4-6. 

Also Read | Australian Open: Stefanos Tsitsipas beats heat, Jannick Sinner to reach semifinal

Speaking after the match, Medvedev said, “I have no idea [how I hung in there]. I was not playing my best and Felix was playing unbelieveable. 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?” Following a mixture of boos and cheers from the crowd, with most sounding discouraging, Medvedev continued, “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.” 

Also Read | Australian Open: Iga Swiatek battles past Kaia Kanepi to reach semifinal

Notably, there was a six-minute delay in the tiebreaker, due to a rain shower, for which the roof of the arena was closed. This worked in the Russian’s favour. 

Also Read | Watch: Nick Kyrgios accidentally hits young fan, gifts racket to console him

Next up, Medvedev will face Greek professional player, Stefanos Tsitsipas, on Friday, January 27. While Tsitsipas has extended his perfect record this Grand Slam up to the quarter-finals, with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win over Jannik Sinner, he is bound to remember the defeat to the Russian tennis star in the semi-final of the Australian Open, back in February 2021. 

Also Read | Danielle Collins joins fellow American Madison Keys in Australian Open semis

Medvedev addressed this as well, saying, “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.”