Back from the brink! Medvedev’s late-night comeback denies Ruusuvuori

Just in the nick of time, Daniil Medvedev prevented his Australian Open campaign from veering wildly off course on Thursday night in Melbourne.

The third seed hauled himself to a 3-6, 6-7(1), 6-4, 7-6(1), 6-0 victory against Emil Ruusuvuori in an absorbing second-round clash inside Rod Laver Arena that ended at 3:40 a.m. local time. Despite Ruusuvuori delivering an impressive performance packed with clean baseline hitting in cool Melbourne conditions, Medvedev battled his inner demons to clinch a four-hour, 23-minute triumph.

“It was tough. I think the only two matches when I went two-sets-to-love down and won, it was here, on this court,” said Medvedev in his on-court interview. “So that’s a good memory for sure. This one is for sure going to stay in my memory, at 3:40 in the morning.”

GOOD MORNING MEDVEDEV 🌅@DaniilMedwed | @AustralianOpen | #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/m4SYjm7BWG

— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 18, 2024

Medvedev cut a frustrated figure for much of his third Lexus ATP Head2Head clash with the Finnish No. 53 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. He made plenty of uncharacteristic errors in the early stages of the match, particularly off his backhand wing, but found a way to raise his game when it mattered most.

Having been just two points from defeat when trailing 4-5 in the fourth set, Medvedev raced through the tie-break to level at two sets all and then asserted his dominance in the decider as Ruusuvuori began to struggle physically. The Finn received treatment on his right shoulder from the physio and was ultimately powerless to stop the World No. 3 from charging to victory.

“It was not easy to start the match and in the first set I was missing too much. I was missing all over the place,” said Medvedev, who hit 51 winners to 63 unforced errors overall. “Then I [changed my racquets] and finally found one where I felt like I was playing better. Sometimes it is just something you create in your mind.

“I stayed with this racquet. I started with it at the beginning of the third set and stayed with it until the end of the match.”

With his win, Medvedev improved to 23-7 at the Australian Open, where he reached the championship match in 2021 and 2022. The 27-year-old will look to extend this year’s run at Melbourne Park when he next meets 27th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, who earlier defeated qualifier Hugo Grenier 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.