Melbourne, Australia

Russia’s Daniil Medvedev battled past Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori in a marathon contest at the Australian Open 2024 after producing a remarkable comeback on Thursday (Jan 18). Playing at the iconic Rod Laver Arena, the two-time runner-up came from two sets down to beat Ruusuvuori 3-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 6-0 to book his place in the third round. The Russian is bidding to win his maiden Australian Open title having finished runner-up in 2021 and 2022.

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Medvedev comes from behind to win

In a contest where Medvedev was dominated in the opening two sets but came back to win the game will be remembered for a very long time. In the opening set of the match, he lost his serve at the crucial point and handed the initiative to the Finish player who is currently ranked World No. 421. He grabbed hold of his own serve to pocket the set 6-3 before producing another master class.

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With the second set heading into tiebreak, Ruusuvuori produced his best on the crucial occasion and grabbed hold of the match with a superb show. Medvedev was stunned after he only won one point in the tiebreak. At this point, Ruusuvuori was about to produce his best Grand Slam performance having stood on the verge of the third round. He had only reached the second round of a Grand Slam in the past with exits in 2021 and 2023 showpieces at AO.

ALSO READ | Aus Open 2024: Carlos Alcaraz battles past Italy's Lorenzo Sonega to reach Round 3

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Medvedev scripts comeback

After being outclassed, the Russian was left with no margin for error and produced the champion’s comeback at the Rod Laver Arena. He broke his opponent at the midway point of the third set and consolidated the advantage to pull one set back. The fourth set was a close one, but 27-year-old Medvedev pulled out his experience and brought the match to parity winning the tiebreak 7-1

In the final set, the Finnish Ruusuvuori ran out of steam as he surrendered against an inspired Medvedev. The former US Open champion pocketed the final set 6-0 and thereby the match to book a third round meeting with 27th seed Canadian Felix Auger Aliassime. Medvedev’s match lasted for 4 hours 23 minutes and got over at 3:40 AM Melbourne time.