Daniil Medvedev rallied from the brink of defeat Friday when he escaped Fabian Marozsan 6-7(5), 4-6, 7-5, 6-0, 6-3 to reach the Australian Open fourth round.
En route to his fifth career comeback from two sets to love down, and fourth in Melbourne, Medvedev earned a crucial break at 5-5 in the third set that turned the tide of the match. The three-time Melbourne finalist won nine consecutive games to deflate the hopes of the Hungarian, eventually escaping after three hours and 43 minutes.
“He played great and I was like, ‘If I lose, I lose’, but I’m just going to try, I’m just going to fight,” Medvedev said in his on-court interview. “I tried to go for it a bit more because he was moving me all around. It managed to work, I started playing better, so I’m happy about it.”
Never count out @DaniilMedwed 😤
— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 23, 2026
The No. 11 seed survives Marozsan in a five-set epic lasting three hours and 43 minutes.@AustralianOpen | #AO26 pic.twitter.com/a4YFjnQhwV
Medvedev, former No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings, has opened his 2026 season on an eight-match winning streak, including a title run at the ATP 250 in Brisbane this month.
The 11th seed will next face a familiar foe in Learner Tien, the American who stunned Medvedev last year in a five-set, second-round battle at Melbourne Park. A budding rivalry on the ATP Tour, Tien leads Medvedev 2-1 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.
Tien took a contrasting path to victory Friday, ousting Portugal’s Nuno Borges 7-6(9), 6-4, 6-2.