Medvedev saves match point, moves into Australian Open semis

Daniil Medvedev of Russia celebrates after defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada in their quarterfinal match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne. Pic/AFP

Daniil Medvedev rallied from two sets down and saved a match point before beating No 9 Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-7(4) 3-6 7-6(2) 7-5 6-4 on Wednesday to move into the Australian Open semifinals. The US Open champion's bid to become the first man in the Open era to win his second Grand Slam title in the next major tournament is still on track after the 4-hour, 42-minute comeback victory. Medvedev will play Friday against French Open runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas in a rematch of last year's semifinals at Melbourne Park. Medvedev won at the same stage last year but lost the final to Novak Djokovic. Tsitsipas beat No 11 Jannik Sinner 6-3 6-4 6-2. Facing defeat on Wednesday, Medvedev got a break. A six-minute delay in the third-set tiebreaker for the roof on Rod Laver Arena to be closed during a rain shower swung the momentum mostly his way.

Auger-Aliassime won only one of the last six points in the tiebreaker after dominating for the first two sets. He missed a match point on Medvedev's serve in the 10th game of the fourth set. Medvedev saved it with a big first serve out wide and then held with an overhead winner. "I was not playing my best, and Felix was playing unbelievable, serving unbelievable he was all over me," Medvedev said. "I didn't know what to do so I (asked) myself, What would Novak do?' "And I just thought, OK, I'm going to make him work. If he wants to win it, he has to ... fight to the last point." The 25-year-old Russian broke Auger-Aliassime's serve in the next game game and held to level the match at two-sets all. He then got another service break when the 21-year-old Canadian double-faulted in the third game of the deciding set. It still wasn't over yet. Serving for the match, Medvedev had to save two break points before closing it out about an hour after saving a match point. Auger-Aliassime had lost all three previous matches against the second-ranked Medvedev, including a straight-set loss in the US Open semifinals last September. But he was the aggressor in the first two sets, keeping Medvedev off balance with his forehand, up-tempo game and athleticism.

It forced Medvedev to play more inside the baseline to claw his way back in the third and fourth sets. Medvedev had his upper left leg taped and was visibly frustrated by people in the crowd talking and making noise between his first and second serves. He uncharacteristically served double-faults to drop serve in the 11th game and, after breaking back when Auger-Aliassime was serving for the first set, twice more in the tiebreaker. Medvedev didn't get a look at a break point in the second or third sets, but managed to convert when he got the chances late. He's been effectively the No. 1 seed since Djokovic, the defending champion, was deported on the eve of the tournament for failing to meet Australia's strict COVID-19 vaccination rules. Another who could benefit from Djokovic's absence is Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard, seeking a men's record 21st major title to break a tie with Djokovic and Roger Federer, will play Wimbledon runner-up Matteo Berrettini in the other semifinal match. The temperature dropped for the men's quarterfinals from the highs of the afternoon, when Iga Swiatek beat 36-year-old Kaia Kanepi 4-6 7-6(2) 6-3, with the payoff being a spot in the semifinals against Danielle Collins.

"This match was crazy," the 20-year-old 2020 French Open champion said. "First set I think my mistake was I had so many break points, I felt like I missed my chances. In the second set I felt like she's playing so fast that I can't be tight. I had to finish my forehands." The temperature reached 36 degrees Celsius (97 degrees Fahrenheit) on Day 10, continuing a week of hot weather. Collins won the opening match before the heat peaked, swinging it in her favor with a key service break in the final game of the opening set on her way to a 7-5 6-1 victory over Alize Cornet. The 115th-ranked Kanepi was coming off a three-set win over second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka and took the match to Swiatek, who saved nine set points before losing the first set. Swiatek rallied in the second and third sets. And, after being broken while serving for the match the first time, she eventually clinched it on Kanepi's serve. After the first three quarterfinals were decided in straight sets Ash Barty beat Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys beat Barbora Krejcikova on Tuesday the last one went all the way. As she left the court, Swiatek wrote on the TV camera lens: "Thank you for the support. # Tired." Collins' win means there are two Americans in the semifinals. Keys, the 2017 US Open runner-up, will play Wimbledon champion Barty.

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