Daniil Medvedev is through to the last eight of the Australian Open for a second year in a row after defeating America’s Maxime Cressy in a tight four-set encounter.
The world No.2 was put through his paces throughout his 6-2, 7-6(4), 6-7(4), 7-5, win over the world No.70 who has made a stellar start to the season. Prior to the Grand Slam Cressy reached his maiden Tour final at the Melbourne Summer Set which he lost to Rafael Nadal. Despite the talents of the underdog, Medvedev was still the dominant force as he fired 13 aces and won 85% of his first service points. The Russian also produced a total of 58 winners against 11 unforced errors.
“I’m ok with it, he really did it well but I don’t see anybody on the Tour who really loves and say ‘do it again,” Medvedev said of Cressy’s serve and volley game during an intervierw with Eurosport.
“When I lost the third (set) and had eight break points in the fourth and I didn’t make them, I was like ‘come on, do something!.’ Some of those I could have won but he (Cressy) also played good.“
Earlier on in the fourth round encounter Medvedev looked to have full control as he raced through the opener in less than 40 minutes by breaking Cressy twice. However, he began to face some stern resistance from the American during the second frame who used the serve and volley to effective use. 11 games went by with no break point opportunity before it was Cressy, who had a set point chance at 6-5. However, Medvedev saved the point with a spotless drop shot to keep him alive before going on to prevail in the tiebreak.
Both players started to suffer physical issues during the third set. First, it was Medvedev who took a medical time out to have work done on his glute. Around 10 minutes later it was his opponent who then had treatment for what appeared to be the same issue. It was also visible that Cressy was suffering some minor discomfort in one of his calves.
With all to play for, Medvedev was on the verge of victory after securing a mini-break midway through the third set tiebreak before Cressy conducted an emphatic fight back. Cressy’s tactic of continuously coming to the net to apply pressure drew errors from his opponent as he worked his way to a 6-4 lead before snatching the set after a Medvedev forehand slammed into the net.
It was evident that the underdog started to frustrate Medvedev who shouted ‘this is so boring’ during the early stages of the fourth set which appeared to be in reference to his opponent’s serve and volley game. During another outburst, he was heard saying ‘It’s simply unbelievable how lucky he is getting. I’ve never seen anything like this my whole life!’
Following those outbursts and failing to convert eight break point chances, Medvedev broke at the most critical time. Tied at 5-5 a winning forehand passing shot moved him to a game away from victory. He then sealed the win on his first match point by hitting another blistering forehand winner.
“It was a great match. During the match I got a little bit crazy with myself. I tried to say something out loud to try and get into his mind a little bit. Maybe, he’s going to start thinking ‘what the hell is Medvedev saying?” Medvedev replied when questioned about his outbursts.
“I am not happy with what I said today, but the most important (thing) is that I continued fighting.” He added.
Medvedev has become the fifth Russian man in the Open Era to have reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on multiple occasions. This year he is bidding to become the first man in the Open Era to win his second major title at the next Grand Slam event. Furthermore, should he triumph in Melbourne he will topple Novak Djokovic to become world No.1.
Medvedev will play Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime in the next round.
