Daniil Medvedev On Fire At Australian Open Despite Late Finish Taking Toll

Daniil Medvedev swept past Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime for a seventh straight time Saturday to power into the last 16 at the Australian Open despite feeling sluggish.

Two-time runner-up Daniil Medvedev swept past Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime for a seventh straight time Saturday to power into the last 16 at the Australian Open despite feeling sluggish.  The Russian third seed was in the zone to win 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 and set up a clash against Portugal's world number 69 Nuno Borges, who upset Bulgarian 13th seed Grigor Dimitrov in four sets. It was a vastly different match from his late-night escape from two sets down against Finland's Emil Ruusuvuori in the second round, a contest that finished at 3:40am on Friday. Medvedev admitted the early-hours finish had taken its toll, saying he had not got to bed until 7:00 am. "It was not easy, I'm not feeling fresh, I'm not feeling 100 percent," said the Russian, who lost to Novak Djokovic in the 2021 Melbourne Park final and Rafael Nadal a year later.

"It was tough, especially after the last match I had.

"I felt it was hard for me when I ran, so I tried to always give him a tough shot so I didn't have to run. Finally, especially in the third set, I managed to pull off some good shots and am happy about my game." 

Medvedev came into the clash with a flawless 6-0 record against the 27th seed.

That included saving a match point to beat the Canadian in a titanic five-set struggle in the 2022 quarter-finals at Melbourne Park.