Medvedev: I had zero confidence in outcome
Daniil Medvedev rallied back from a two-set deficit to beat the Canadian Auger-Aliassime and set a semifinal meeting with Stefanos Tsitsipas on Wednesday.
Published : Jan 26, 2022 18:59 IST
Danill Medvedev said he had "zero confidence" when he trailed Felix Auger-Aliassime by two sets in their Australian Open quarter-final on Wednesday yet somehow found a way to claim victory in a Rod Laver Arena classic.
The 25-year-old world number two was being outplayed by a majestic Auger-Aliassime and looked to be running out of ideas.
But after snatching the third set on a tiebreak he benefited from the closure of the roof to change the momentum of the match and win 6-7(4), 3-6, 7-6(2), 7-5, 6-4.
It means he is still in with a chance of winning a second successive Grand Slam after claiming his first by beating Novak Djokovic in last year's U.S. Open final.
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"I had zero confidence after the two sets. He was playing insane, like better than I have ever seen him play, at least against me or in practice," Medvedev, who saved a match point in the fourth set, told reporters.
"I have never seen him play like this. It was unreal. And I didn't show exactly my best level. Was missing just a little bit too much. Yeah, so third set I had zero confidence in myself and in the outcome of the match. I just tried to fight."
On court after the match Medvedev said he has summoned the warrior spirit of absent world number one Djokovic to help him turn the match around -- eliciting boos from the crowd.
Djokovic was deported on the eve of the tournament after having his visa cancelled after a long-running saga over a COVID-19 exemption to play at the tournament.
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"I've played more times with Novak, like when I started to be good, Rafa (Nadal) and Roger (Federer) got a little bit injured from time to time so I had more matches with Novak," Medvedev said. "Some matches I watched win in Grand Slams, being two sets down with (Stefanos) Tsitsipas and (Lorenzo) Musetti in Roland Garros.
"And I was there between the sets, I was like, 'what would the best players in the world do?' Which I'm part of, but still young and very far in Grand Slam titles.
"As soon as I was down a little bit, I was like: Just be like Novak. Show him that you are better. It won't work every time, because again, he had a match point.
"But this time it worked."