Australian Open: Novak Djokovic through after epic battle
Novak Djokovic held off the challenge of young Russian Daniil Medvedev in a bruising encounter to move into the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.
Djokovic through after epic clash
Novak Djokovic held off the challenge of young Russian Daniil Medvedev in a bruising encounter to move into the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.
The six-time champion has now reached the last eight at least 10 times at all four grand slams thanks to a 6-4 6-7 (5) 6-2 6-3 victory over his 22-year-old opponent.
After Stefanos Tsitsipas' victory over Roger Federer on Rod Laver Arena on Sunday, Medvedev was trying to strike another blow for the next generation against the old guard.
The Russian is a fiery character and had talked up his chances ahead of the match, claiming 31-year-old Djokovic was not the same player as at his peak and there would be chances to beat him.
He did have chances but ultimately could not take them, although it was Djokovic who was angry after allowing the first two sets to become complicated.
The world number one salvaged the situation after being broken serving for the opening set but then saw a 4-1 lead slip away in the second to his obvious frustration.
He fought back from 6-2 down in the tie-break but Medvedev took his fourth set point on a mammoth rally. Djokovic eventually wore his young opponent down but it took him three hours and 15 minutes to get across the finish line.
"Since I guess my opponent is watching, I'm feeling fantastic....I've never been fresher in my life!"
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 21, 2019
Always the gamesman, @DjokerNole 😂#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/roB4W1UMPc
The top seed will now face Kei Nishikori, who spent more than five hours battling past Pablo Carreno Busta.
Asked in his on-court interview at 12.45am how he was feeling, Djokovic said: "Since I guess my next opponent is watching, I'm feeling fantastic, I've never felt fresher in my life. It was definitely a physical battle, Daniil has been playing some really good tennis in the last six months. It was difficult to go through him, I just had to find a different way. I was fortunate to save a couple of break points. In these kind of matches you just have to hang in there and wait for your opportunities."
Zverev crashes out again
Fourth seed Alexander Zverev suffered his latest grand-slam disappointment with a bad-tempered fourth-round loss to Milos Raonic at the Australian Open. The 21-year-old beat Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic back-to-back to win his biggest title at the ATP Finals in November.
But he was unable to improve his record of having reached only one slam quarter-final as he suffered a heavy 6-1 6-1 7-6 (5) defeat to resurgent Canadian Raonic.
After breaking serve in the opening game of the match, Zverev incredibly lost 12 of the next 13 games and showed his frustration by destroying his racket after going 4-1 down in the second set, smashing it repeatedly on the ground.
He produced a better effort in the third set and saved two match points at 4-5 but Raonic, who began his tournament by beating Nick Kyrgios and Stan Wawrinka, was ultimately too strong.
"I played bad," said Zverev. "The first two sets especially I played horrible. It's tough to name one thing. I didn't serve well, didn't play well from the baseline. Against a quality player like him, it's tough to come back from that."
There was no doubt about Zverev's commitment to smashing his racket, eventually flinging the mangled mess of metal and string dismissively to the court. It made me feel better," he said. "I was very angry, so I let my anger out."
Zverev has become all too used to the narrative that he has under-performed at the slams and this performance felt all the more disappointing after his success at the O2 Arena.
But the German believes winning that title may have hampered his chances here, saying: "I didn't have a very long off-season, didn't have a lot of rest. But this is us as tennis players. I'm happy how the season ended. I wouldn't want it the other way."
In the last eight, Raonic will face Frenchman Lucas Pouille, who reached his first slam quarter-final since the 2016 US Open with a 6-7 (4) 6-4 7-5 7-6 (2) victory over 11th seed Borna Coric.
Pouille, who hired Amelie Mauresmo as his coach in the off-season, had lost in the first round on his five previous visits to Melbourne Park.
Nishikori edges epic clash
Eighth seed Kei Nishikori won the longest match of the tournament so far in a deciding fifth-set tie-break against Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta.
Nishikori, who had already come through five-set battles against Kamil Majchrzak and Ivo Karlovic, found himself trailing by two sets to love before mounting a fightback to level.
He looked to be heading out again when Carreno Busta led 8-5 in the deciding tie-break but Nishikori won the final five points in a 6-7 (8) 4-6 7-6 (4) 6-4 7-6 (8) victory that lasted five hours and five minutes.
Carreno Busta left the court screaming at the umpire after feeling the point at 8-5, when his shot was erroneously called out, should have been replayed.
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