Daniil Medvedev saves match point, moves into Australian Open semis

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He lost the first two sets, was low on confidence and was one point from a quarterfinal exit at the Australian Open, so Daniil Medvedev asked himself the question: What would Novak do?

Fair question. Top-ranked Novak Djokovic is a nine-time Australian Open champion who finished one win short of a calendar-year Grand Slam in 2021.

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Modelling himself after the 20-time Grand Slam champion, Medvedev told himself late Wednesday to make Felix Auger-Aliassime fight for every point.

More than one hour after saving a match point on his serve in the fourth set, the U.S. Open champion finished off a 6-7 (4), 3-6, 7-6 (2), 7-5, 6-4 comeback victory almost a half-hour after midnight.

"He was playing insane, like better than I have ever seen him play. It was unreal," Medvedev said. "So third set I had zero confidence in myself and in the outcome of the match."

Medvedev mentioned his thoughts about Djokovic during his on-court TV interview and in a later news conference. He wasn't joking.

"I was not playing my best, and Felix ... was all over me," Medvedev said. "I didn’t know what to do so I (asked) myself, ‘What would Novak do?’

"And I just thought, OK, I’m going to make him work. If he wants to win it, he has to ... fight to the last point."

Medvedev will have to recover quickly to play Friday against French Open runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas in a rematch of last year’s semifinals at Melbourne Park. Medvedev won at the same stage last year but lost in the final to Djokovic, who wasn't allowed to defend the title this month because he failed to meet Australia's strict COVID-19 vaccination rules.

Tsitsipas