A spectator reacts as he watches the second round match between Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland and Daniil Medvedev of Russia on Rod Laver Arena at the Australian Open. Photo / AP
A spectator reacts as he watches the second round match between Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland and Daniil Medvedev of Russia on Rod Laver Arena at the Australian Open. Photo / AP
Third-seeded Daniil Medvedev rallied from two sets down to beat Emil Ruusuvuori 3-6, 6-7 (1), 6-4, 7-6 (1), 6-0 in a 4-hour, 23-minute second-round Australian Open match that ended at 3:39 a.m. local time.
“Tough, tough tough,” Medvedev, a two-time Australian Open finalist, said of the late finish.
Daniil Medvedev and Emil Ruusuvuori have just started the fifth set of their match at the Australian Open. It's 3.15 am in Melbourne! That is utter madness.
Medvedev vs Ruusuvuori, 5th set is about to START, at 3.15am. Tennis needs a time policy (eg: "At 1am, finish the current set, then resume play the next day"). These guys will be eating breakfast before going to sleep, then one of them plays best of 5 again in 24h #raretennispost
Medvedev walked onto Rod Laver Arena at 11:07 p.m. Thursday after Elena Rybakina lost the longest tiebreaker ever in a women’s Grand Slam event, 22-20 to Anna Blinkova.
Daniil Medvedev of Russia reacts after defeating Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland in their second round match at the Australian Open. Photo /AP
And so Day 5 of the Australian Open finished on a Friday, even with the extra Sunday added to the start of the tournament and the first round being split over three days.
It was the latest finish so far this year, but not close to the tournament record. Andy Murray finished off Thanasi Kokkinakis just after 4 a.m. last year in a second-round match that lasted 5 hours, 45 minutes.
And that was only good enough for second place. The latest-finishing match in Grand Slam history ended with Lleyton Hewitt beating Marcos Baghdatis at 4:34 a.m. in 2008.
Medvedev will face No. 27 Felix Auger-Aliassime, who beat Hugo Grenier 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.
