Daniil Medvedev thanked fans for showing their support and staying until 3.39am to witness his second round win at Melbourne Park – but admitted he would not have done the same.
The No.3 seed rallied from two sets down to beat Emil Ruusuvuori 3-6, 6-7 (7-1), 6-4, 7-6 (7-1), 6-0.
Medvedev walked onto Rod Laver Arena at 11.07pm on Thursday after Elena Rybakina lost the longest women’s grand slam tie-breaker ever 22-20 to Anna Blinkova.
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And while he appreciated those who stuck around and watched his marathon match, he couldn’t help but question their decision following the victory.
“Honestly guys, I would not be here,” Medvedev said to the crowd. “Thanks for staying.
“If I’d have been a tennis fan and I had come, at 1am I’d be ‘OK, let’s go home, we’ll catch the end of the match on the TV, we’ll watch 30 minutes and then go to bed’.
“So I guess thanks guys, you are strong.”
It was the latest finish so far this year, but not close to the tournament record. Andy Murray finished off Thanasi Kokkinakis just after 4am last year in a second-round match that lasted five hours, 45 minutes.
And that was only good enough for second place on the all-time list. The latest-finishing match in grand slam history ended with Lleyton Hewitt beating Marcos Baghdatis at 4.34am in 2008.
After player complaints last year, Australian Open organisers decided to extend the tournament by adding a 15th day and starting on a Sunday for the first time.
The first round was split over three days, and no matches went past 2am.
But the first day of the second round was entirely different story, with two early men’s matches going to a decisive tiebreaker after five sets and top-ranked Iga Swiatek’s opener against Danielle Collins going for almost three and a quarter hours.
And so day five of the Australian Open finished on a Friday, anyway.
Medvedev said he’d have to warm down, get some physiotherapy and try to get to sleep by 6.30am and wake up some time after midday to start preparing for his third-round match against Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Ruusuvurori, a 24-year-old from Finland who was aiming to reach the third round for the first time at a major, started well.
He broke the 2021 US Open champion’s serve in the second game and took the first set in 42 minutes. It took almost twice that long to take the second set in a tiebreaker for a 2-0 lead.
After a medical timeout, Medvedev started his comeback. He broke for a 2-1 lead and, after an exchange of breaks, he took the third set in 49 minutes.
He also broke to open the fourth. But Ruusuvurori broke back, converting with a leaping overhead, to get back on serve and had Medvedev screaming toward his support team in the stands.
He held for a 5-4 lead with a couple of forehand passing shots, and Medvedev hurled his racket into the court before he walked to the chairs for the changeover. It earned him a warning from the chair umpire.
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At deuce in the next game, Ruusuvuori was two points from winning the match at 2.56am.
But he stepped in to a service return and missed a forehand wide down the line, and then sent a forehand long.
After all that, the end came relatively quickly.
Medvedev took a 4-0 lead in the tiebreaker, seizing momentum.
After an almost eight-minute break between the fourth and fifth sets, Medvedev’s experience kicked in and Ruusuvuori’s legs gave out.
The 30-minute deciding set was only prolonged by Ruusuvuori taking a medical timeout for treatment on his sore right shoulder.
“The only two matches I’ve come back from two sets to love down was on this court,” Medvedev said.
Going into the match he was 4-10 in five-setters, including a loss to Rafael Nadal in the 2022 final after he’d taken the first two sets.
“This one,” he said, “is going to for sure stay in my memory.”
