Melbourne: Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka on Monday booked his spot in the quarterfinals at the ongoing Australian Open after defeating No.4 seed Daniil Medvedev in a five-set thriller.
Wawrinka, the 2014 champion and No. 15 seed, beat Medvedev 6-2, 2-6, 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-2 in a match that lasted three hours and 25 minutes at the Margaret Court Arena.
Medvedev kept calm and weathered the storm. The fourth seed added more length to his shots in the second set, pushing Wawrinka back in the baseline rallies and earning a break at 1-1 after drawing a forehand error.
The Russian then cleaned up his game considerably, hitting just two errors in the set and frustrating his opponent with incredible defence. Medvedev grabbed an insurance break at 3-1 after prevailing in a lengthy rally and rode the momentum to level the match, ATP reported.
"That was an amazing match and an amazing atmosphere," Wawrinka was quoted as saying by the ATP Tour website after the match. "It was really tough to play against Daniil. I had to raise my level in the fourth and fifth sets. The level was super high and the atmosphere is always something special here in Australia.
"I'm finding solutions. I was losing a bit of confidence in the second and third sets, and was fighting against myself to play my game. I had to fight, stay positive and I'm happy with the result."
Wawrinka, who is through to his fifth quarter-final in Melbourne and reached the last eight at this event for the first time since 2017, will next face seventh-seeded German Alexander Zverev or No. 17 seed Andrey Rublev of Russia.
