Stan Wawrinka overturned a two sets to one deficit to stun the fourth seeded Daniil Medvedev in the fourth round of the 2020 Australian Open on Monday.
The Swiss number two and a former Australian Open winner defeated the much fancied Medvedev 6-2, 2-6, 4-6, 7-6, 6-2 to make it to the quarterfinal. This is the fifth time Wawrinka will play in the Australian Open quarterfinal, but having missed out over the past two seasons, this would come as a pleasant confidence-booster.
Wawrinka started off brilliantly, as he broke the Russian twice in the first set without return to grab it with ease. His high first serve percentage in the first set helped as well, as he got 85% of them in along with hitting 16 winners in it.
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Medvedev responded in style as he broke as early as in the third game of the second set, before making it two breaks in a row to go 4-1 up. He closed the set to level things up and while Wawrinka did much better in the third set, Medvedev was prowling for anything loose.
That opportunity came in the seventh game of the set, as Wawrinka dished out unforced errors after unforced errors to hand Medvedev the break. The Russian ensured there was no looking back in the set and won it 6-4.
Looking down and out, Wawrinka did the next-best thing. He clung on to his service game and refused to drop it in the fourth set. On the other hand, Medvedev also did not give too many chances and the set went into the tie-breaker.
It was Wawrinka who took the early lead here, going 3-0 up and then 5-2. He had his first set point since the first set and converted it to take it to the decider.
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Interestingly, Medvedev lost his cool at tough moments in the final set, dropping his serve very early. And any chances of making a comeback were doused after Wawrinka broke him for the second time and then served out for the match to make the last-eight stage.
Wawrinka was visibly elated after the win and said the amazing atmosphere helped him a lot as well. He complimented Medvedev’s game-style and said he had to raise his game in the final two sets to be able to come through. He added:
“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 will now face the winner of the match between Andrey Rublev and Alexander Zverev for a place in the semifinal.
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