For two long hours, Daniil Medvedev’s shoulders were bitterly slouched during the grand slam quarter-final he had entered as the heavy favourite. He struggled with his serve, double faulting on key points, and as his frustration boiled over he even spent long periods mimicking Félix Auger-Aliassime’s prolonged, breathy grunt during exchanges. As his opponent started brilliantly, it looked at times like he would rather be anywhere else in the world than the Rod Laver Arena.
But even then, as he fell down two sets to Auger-Aliassime and his presence in the tournament was moments from being snuffed out, such is the aura he has built for himself over the past year, it never looked to be over. As the clocks in Melbourne ticked past midnight, Medvedev completed his recovery from two sets down and saved a match point as he defeated Auger-Aliassime 6-7 (4), 3-6, 7-6 (2) 7-5, 6-4 in four hours, 42 minutes to reach the Australian Open semi-final.
